Today, the European Parliament decided to follow the committee on legal affairs (JURI) decision to sue the European Commission over the withdrawal of the Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) proposal. On 4 November 2025, the JURI committee voted in favour of referring the Commission to the Court of Justice of the European Union for breaching EU law by withdrawing the proposal to regulate Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). The S&D Group does not accept the Commission using this withdrawal as a political instrument to by-pass the Parliament and weaken our negotiating powers.
S&D MEP Tiemo Wölken was the S&D shadow rapporteur for the report and was reappointed at the beginning of this term. He complained about the refusal from the Commission to grant him access to meetings about SEP and recently won a battle with the EU General Court now prohibiting the European Commission from deleting records related to the SEP Regulation withdrawal. The Commission has until 3 December to reply.
Tiemo Wölken, S&D shadow rapporteur on the Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) proposal, said:
“The SEP Regulation would have simplified the licensing of essential patents, such as those for 5G, for key European industries, including the automotive sector. It would have cut costs for EU businesses and supported the uptake of innovative technologies by SMEs to make them more competitive. The SEP Regulation would have delivered on all the priorities this Commission claims to stand for: simplification, competitiveness, and legal certainty.
“And yet the Commission withdrew the proposal under the pretext that there was no foreseeable majority in the Parliament and Council for it. This flimsy excuse is clearly fabricated. The Parliament had already adopted a position, and several full-day negotiation rounds were scheduled in the Council. It is particularly worrying that the Commission withdrew the proposal shortly after a meeting between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Vice President JD Vance, amid rumours that this may have been a favour to appease major US companies. This is why I am suing the Commission for access to any documents relating to the withdrawal of the SEP Regulation. Von der Leyen can prove that there is no truth to these rumours by releasing the related documents. If she fails to do so, it would speak volumes.
“The withdrawal of the SEP Regulation reveals that neither the von der Leyen Commission nor Manfred Weber care about simplification or competitiveness. All they care about is their ideological vendetta against any kind of regulation. And in their drive to cut regulation at all costs, Ursula von der Leyen and Manfred Weber are not even bothering to look at the contents of the laws they are killing, thus hurting the industry they pretend to support.”
René Repasi, S&D coordinator for legal affairs and parliaments standing rapporteur for disputes, said:
“Today’s vote proves that the European Parliament is alive, alert, and stands ready to defend its prerogatives. A strong Parliament defends the balance of powers and does not allow itself to be pushed aside.
“The Commission’s sudden withdrawal of the SEP proposal in the midst of an ongoing legislative procedure crossed a line. Parliament had a mandate; the Council was negotiating. To this day, the Commission has failed to provide any convincing reason as to why they pulled the plug. This move undermined the co-legislator’s role and disrupted the institutional balance.
“By bringing this case to the Court, Parliament sends a clear message: the Commission’s right of withdrawal is not a carte blanche. It must be interpreted narrowly.
“Our businesses, especially the many innovative SMEs across Europe, depend on legal certainty for standard essential patents, one which Parliament had delivered through its position on a solid, workable framework. Abrupt and unreasoned withdrawals only create uncertainty and weaken Europe’s competitiveness.”
Note to editors:
The proposal for a regulation was published by the European Commission on 27 April 2023 addressing existing problems in the EU’s Standard Essential Patent (SEP) licensing system, particularly the lack of clarity of existing rules and their subsequent potential for abuse, to the detriment of a competitive market for all companies. It therefore aimed at providing more transparency in the negotiation of SEP licenses under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, especially for SMEs. The Parliament adopted its position on the SEP law by a large majority in 2024, and in 2025 the Commission removed the file from its 2025 work programme, saying no foreseeable agreement was possible.
