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The European Commission has reportedly declined the European Parliament’s request for a restart of the legislative process on the controversial software patent directive. The EP had taken a three-tiered decision to ask the Commission to begin the process from scratch: On 2 February, the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) of the European Parliament near-unanimously decided to make this request. On 17 February, the EP’s Conference of Presidents (i.e., the group chairs) unanimously backed that decision. A week later, on 24 February, the plenary of the EP reinforced this by unanimously “inviting” the Commission to review its proposal for a software patent directive although there was no more formal requirement for the plenary to vote on this subject.

NoSoftwarePatents.com received an indication on Friday from the office of a vice president of the Commission and has now heard that the Commission today informed several journalists of its decision.

Florian Mueller, the manager of the pan-European NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign, condemned the Commission’s decision in the strongest terms: “A wannabe Napoleon who heads the Commission and a Microsoft puppet that runs the DG (directorate general) in charge have decided to negate democracy. Now we call on the EU Council to demonstrate a more democratic attitude and to reopen negotiations of its Common Position at the forthcoming meeting of the Competitiveness Council on Monday (7 March).”

The best thing the European people can do is vote NO on the new constitution as long as the Commission is not elected democratically, and as long they’re not fully accountable.

Meanwhile, one of the Directive’s key supporters, the German Federal Ministry of Justice, has reportedly received approximately 500 bananas, shipped in more than 150 parcels, from constituents appalled by what they consider “banana republic style” disrespect for the national and European parliaments.