On the eve of its implementation in the national judicial systems (July 31 2000), European Directive 98/44/EC of July 6 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions has led to heated discussions in the Netherlands. Earlier, on October 19 1998, the Dutch government had already requested the ECJ to declare the directive invalid, but no judgment has been rendered with respect to this request yet. Not until June this year rather late was the actual implementation of the directive finally discussed in the Dutch parliament. During these discussions, it turned out that a majority of parliament objected to the implementation of the directive, largely because the directive would give room for the patenting of living organisms. This would be contrary to fundamental ethical choices made in the Netherlands.
