Update after reading it: this isn't even an official parliament document or recommendation. It's something by the parliament's research service.
This is certainly not true. Thanks to the EU parliament the IT freelancers in the EU don't need to suffer software patents.
The Eurocrats did everything to invent it some years ago, even with dirty tricks (like pushing it through immediately before summer vacation). We IT freelancers contacted politicians of the EU parliament, told them about our concerns, and they actually supported us.
I remember the victory celebration at heise.de (a leading IT newsticker in Germany). Usually there are about some hundred comments per hot thread but in this case it was more than eleven thousands.
EP is a high reputation organization and has force within the EU structure. Calling an EPRS study "something by the parliament's research service" is not only redundant (EPRS = European Parliament Research Service) but also short-sighted (do you do the same thing to the deliverables by your R&D department?).
So, this is an EP study that you can cite in order to support your arguments for switching to free software in your government / school / workplace / home / hobby group.
That kind of social change would require a change in the econo-political system.
Nope. The EU Parliament (elected), the Commission (periodically nominated by national governments) and the Council (meeting of national governments) are the three "heads" of the EU political system, and they are locked in a constant struggle to determine the exact boundaries of their powers. The Parliament is the youngest institution, hence the historical disregard of entrenched interests; at the same time, it's the institution most hungry for power, because it's the only one with a clear democratic mandate.
As others mentioned, software patents were a battlefield for such struggle: the Commission repeatedly recommended their introduction (IIRC, at the behest of a certain Microsoft-friendly Irish commissioner), and the Parliament repeatedly sent them packing. You will find several other instances of this happening: the democratic mandate of the EU Parliament in most cases will eventually trump backroom agreements in the Commission, as long as the topic becomes mainstream enough to invoke such mandate.
In future, the institution that is destined to become more and more powerless is one between the Council and the Commission, since their scope overlaps now that the Parliament has taken over the "legislative" process earlier left to the Commission.
Excuse the snark, but the wilful ignorance concerning the EU and Europe in favour of ideological posturing makes it near impossible to discuss most relevant topics.
Starting with a somewhat misleading headline doesn't help.