23.12.2015 Official Journal of the European Union L 336/1 (Legislative acts) DIRECTIVES DIRECTIVE (EU) 2015/2436 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 December 2015 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (Recast) (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (), Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (), Whereas: (1) A number of amendments should be made to Directive 2008/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (). In the interests of clarity, that Directive should be recast. (2)  Directive 2008/95/EC has harmonised central provisions of substantive trade mark law which at the time of adoption were considered as most directly affecting the functioning of the internal market by impeding the free movement of goods and the freedom to provide services in the Union. (3)  Trade mark protection in the Member States coexists with protection available at Union level through European Union trade marks (‘EU trade marks’) which are unitary in character and valid throughout the Union as laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (*). The coexistence and balance of trade mark systems at national and Union level in fact constitutes a cornerstone of the Union’s approach to intellectual property protection. (4)  Further to the Commission’s communication of 16 July 2008 on an industrial property rights strategy for Europe, the Commission carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the overall functioning of the trade mark system in Europe as a whole, covering Union and national levels and the interrelation between the two. () OJC327,12.11.2013,p. 42. () Position of the European Parliament of 25 February 2014 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and position of the Council at first reading of 10 November 2015 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Position of the European Parliament of 15 December 2015. () Directive 2008/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (OJ L 299, 8.11.2008, p. 25). (*) Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the Community trade mark (OJ L 78, 24.3.2009, p. 1).