Brussels, 28/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 27 March, the European Parliament's international trade committee rejected rapporteur David Martin's (S&D, United Kingdom) proposal by 21 votes against, five in favour, with two abstentions. The proposal recommended that the Parliament submits the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a separate case from the European Commission, to verify its compliance with EU fundamental rights.
For a range of different reasons, the EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL and ECR Groups rejected the referral, while the ALDE Group voted in favour. Speaking on behalf of the EPP, Daniel Caspary from Germany explained that his group believed that there was no point in sending the referral to the ECJ when the European Commission had already sent it there, and that the Parliament would thus have more flexibility for political debate. Speaking on behalf of the S&D, Bernd Lange from Germany explained that his group preferred an immediate parliamentary rejection of the text because it was unable to support it in its current form, rather than postpone its decision at the ECJ. According to Lange, ACTA may be rejected before the summer. Speaking on behalf of the GUE/NGL, Helmut Scholz from Germany claimed that a request for a legal opinion would have been the most sensible option at an earlier stage and that the exploratory work of the Parliament could not be stopped over a one or two-year period, the time the ECJ would need to give its verdict. The Greens/EFA abstained but shared the point of view of the GUE/NGL. Jan Philipp Albrecht from Germany said that “politically, we are against the Court referral because we think that the agreement should be immediately thrown out”. On behalf of ALDE, Niccolò Rinaldi from Italy said that he was disappointed by the Parliament's rejection of the referral, which, although it had not provided a response to political questions, would have allowed the Parliament further legal clarification regarding concerns about the compliance of the agreement with fundamental rights.
While the European Commission announced its intention to support an ECJ referral on 22 February, work will continue at the European Parliament, with Martin's presentation on 25-26 April of his recommendation on whether or not to approve ACTA, followed by an international trade committee vote on 29-30 May and the plenary vote between 12 and 14 June. (EH/transl.fl)