Brussels, 18/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - European ministers responsible for competiveness policy will adopt a resolution early March on respect of intellectual property rights (IPR) within the internal market. National ambassadors with the EU having already given their approval on Wednesday 17 February on the draft text of the document, ministerial level discussions are not expected.
During preparatory discussions, several member states raised the question of how useful it was to refer to multilateral international agreements in a resolution focusing on the internal market. They deplore the European Commission's lack of transparency on talks on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The Commission should thus keep more in touch especially with a view to the next negotiating session to be held in New Zealand during April. The reference to a possible European Day (11 June) for combating counterfeiting and piracy was removed from the resolution.
The resolution specifies the tasks entrusted to the European Counterfeiting and Piracy Observatory opened in 2009 under the aegis of the Commission (EUROPE 9872). The observatory will study the causes and consequences of IPR violation with regard to innovation, competitiveness, employment, health and safety, and cultural diversity. It will explore ways leading to training programmes at European level. The exchange of information with national administrations and the private sector is considered vital in order to optimise the work of the observatory, and plans and a methodology for the collection of information are recommended. The resolution also underlines the importance of conducting information campaigns on the impact of counterfeiting and piracy, particularly aimed at young people. Calling for simplification of crossborder implementation of judicial decisions, the resolution invites the Commission to report on implementation of Directive 2004/18/EC on respect of IPR and, if necessary, to suggest legislative amendments taking into account the rapid evolution of the digital environment. (M.B./transl.jl)