Lawmakers are being urged to quickly study and pass bills on intellectual property rights or Cyprus risks being sanctioned by the European Commission.

The call to action came from Energy Minister Natasa Pilides at Tuesday’s House commerce committee, where she told MPs that Cyprus must harmonise its local law in line with European directives.

The bill must be put to parliament before the end of September, she urged – noting that she had informed EU officials that discussions are set to be wrapped up by the end of next month and will then be put to a vote.

Pilides reiterated that the process took place in coordination with a wide range of stakeholders as the matter was put to public consultation last July. She said that the matter will be put to the cabinet on Wednesday.

Present at the committee meeting was a representative from the legal services who explained that the commission had issued guidelines to member states to better help them implement the changes.

He noted, however, that matters were delayed following a European court ruling on the issue.

Akel MP Costas Costa said that for the new laws to be implemented the regulations on the planned intellectual property rights authority must first be voted on, noting that the cabinet will review it on Wednesday.

Costa emphasised that parliament has been waiting for this procedure to have been carried out since 2017.

The committee sat for several hours on Tuesday to ensure that the bill was analysed article by article.

Chairman of the committee and Disy MP Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis reiterated that whomever wishes to submit calls for amendments must do so within 15 days.