Strasbourg, 26/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - The plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) may, on Wednesday 24 November, have narrowly adopted a resolution backing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the multilateral agreement, now beginning the long process of being approved by the 37 signatory countries before it can be formally signed, but ACTA is far from having its way clear in a deeply divided Parliament.
Hailing the adoption of the resolution drafted by their group, the EPP, (and the ECR), French MEPs Tokia Saïfi and Marielle Gallo and German Daniel Caspary sang the praises of this “protective shield” for EU industry which “will help better enforce international measures against counterfeit goods and better protect copyright so that European industry can sell its products world-wide”. “The European Commission has repeatedly stated that ACTA did not change existing EU legislation. Existing EU treaties, directives and regulations on data protection and copyright will not be altered by ACTA. The Agreement therefore improves the situation of European industry without restricting European citizens,” they say in a press release, denouncing the “unfounded allegations” of the S&D and Greens.
The losers on the day, who saw their draft resolution fall by 16 votes, put great stress on the grey areas - on conformity with the acquis communautaire, compatibility with fundamental rights, and issues relating to criminal proceedings and penalties, geographical indications, access to medicines and the liability of suppliers in the chapter on the internet - which the final agreement, as it stands, does nothing to illuminate. For S&D MEPs Françoise Castex (France) and Stavros Lambrinidis (Greece), co-signatories of a statement against ACTA formally adopted in September, the European Right has given in to demands from a number of governments and pressure from cultural industries to the detriment of the fundamental freedoms of European citizens. “The Commission has negotiated an agreement the consequences of which it cannot control and the impact of which on citizens and their fundamental freedoms it is purposefully ignoring. This disrespectful attitude towards people's legitimate concerns is completely irresponsible when Parliament's powers have been increased under the Lisbon Treaty,” said Kader Arif (S&D, France). “ACTA has to be defeated because it is a denial of the democratic legislative process, access to care, retention of internet access, privacy and freedom of expression. The battle has not been lost so long as citizens, associations and MEPs continue to fight against approval of this agreement by the European Parliament,” stated Marie-Christine Vergiat (GUE/NGL, France). “Worst of all, the resolution does not even demand an impact assessment from the Commission to check if ACTA is in line with current EU law and to what extent,” lamented Eva Lichtenberger (Green, Austria). Her colleague Jan Philippe Albrecht (Germany), regretting that the vote gave “a blank cheque” to the Commission which is ignoring “the concerns that have been consistently voiced … that ACTA could impair civil liberties and the access to information and medicine”, stated that the Greens would continue to demand legal clarification from the European Court of Justice. (E.H./transl.rt)