Brussels, 11/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - As reported in yesterday's edition (EUROPE 10095), Parliament was fully united in its adoption on Wednesday 10 March of a resolution calling on the European Commission, in future, to bring greater transparency on negotiations on the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA), which has been under secret negotiation since 2007 between the EU and Australia, Canada, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. It was by the impressive majority of 633 votes to 13, with 16 abstentions, that MEPs rapped the institutional knuckles of the Commission which has been negotiating ACTA on behalf of the EU. Lest ACTA, which is supposed to protect intellectual property (from clothing to medicines) from both traditional and digital (illegal downloading) counterfeiting by means of harmonised international standards, suffer the same fate as the SWIFT Agreement, the Commission must comply with its duty of transparency with regard to the Parliament which has had its powers increased by the Lisbon Treaty. In their speeches in the debate on Tuesday 9 March attended by Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, MEPs from all political groups did not mince their words in stating their determination to have their new prerogatives observed and to protect the rights and fundamental freedoms of citizens.
Leading the revolt initiated in Parliament by a written statement signed jointly by Stavros Lambrinidis (S&D, Greece), Alexander Alvaro (ALDE, Germany), and Zuzana Roithova (EPP, Czech Republic) (see EUROPE 10085), Françoise Castex (S&D, France) hailed “the uprising of all MEPs against the secrecy surrounding ACTA”. “Far and away beyond issues of transparency, we wanted to remind the Commission and the Council that they have to get Parliament's assent at the end of negotiations,” she went on, before pointing out that, under the terms of the resolution adopted, Parliament reserved the right to refer this matter to the Court of Justice, if need be, to make sure its rights were observed. “We will also oppose a text which might be to the detriment of access to medicines, freedom of expression, internet neutrality and the legal responsibility of its intermediaries. Parliament will oppose failure to respect the acquis communautaire. If the Commission and Council do not change tack, we will protect citizens' individual freedoms by rejecting ACTA, just as we did with SWIFT,” she said. “Any international agreement affecting the everyday lives of European citizens must be discussed in a transparent and public manner - especially when issues such as blocking internet access of citizens under specific circumstances are part of the agreement. Parliament has, not without reason, established a clear position on this matter, rejecting the three strikes and you're out approach,” said Alexander Alvaro, for the ALDE group. “Immediate and full public access to all relevant ACTA documents is essential. Granting access to MEPs only, in a secured room under condition of strict confidentiality, is unacceptable. Parliament demands an end to shady negotiations behind closed doors, with a proper mandate, without a clearly defined legal base and lacking any democratic legitimacy,” added his Dutch colleague Sophia In't Veld. “Counterfeiting is the canker of the internal market and the EU is desperately seeking treatment for it. By providing suitable measures, ACTA should improve international cooperation by focusing on counterfeit goods that are dangerous for health and life, instead of hunting down school kids that download games from the internet. It is unacceptable that the Parliament is not informed of the negotiations. If the Commission does not communicate with Parliament, it will be opposed to ACTA, as it was opposed to SWIFT. We shall therefore lose another instrument to combat violations of intellectual property rights”, explained Zuzana Roithova, speaking on behalf of the EPP, who also expressed astonishment that China is not taking part in the talks. Speaking on the side of the Greens, Sandrine Bélier of France urged the Commission and Council to “immediately make all documents relating to the talks underway available for MEPs and citizens”. “Keeping the Parliament away from ACTA runs counter to the fundamental principles of democracy, rules of transparency and codecision set out in the Lisbon Treaty. This situation is all the more unwarranted as the content of talks touches on matters as sensitive as access to knowledge, the protection of private life, neutrality of the internet and respect of fundamental rights”, she added. “Any agreement must be negotiated with public and parliamentary scrutiny in the appropriate international body, such as WIPO for issues of intellectual property, and with the due participation of the emerging and developing countries”, stressed Helmut Scholz of Germany on behalf of the GUE/NGL, who welcomes the fact that the resolution makes it an obligation for the Commission to limit talks on ACTA to the current European system for application of intellectual property rights against counterfeiting. Eva Britt Svensson of Sweden welcomed the fact that the European Parliament had adopted the amendment she had tabled stating that “any agreement must include the right to examination by a court before closing someone off from accessing the internet”. (E.H./transl.rt/jl)