Brussels, 29/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - This is shaping up to be a crucial week for the future of the international anti-counterfeiting agreement (ACTA), with votes for opinion due to be held in three European Parliament (EP) committees.
After several months of debate in the EP, whose international trade committee is due to deliver a formal recommendation prior to the plenary session vote in June, the industry, legal affairs and civil liberties committees will agree their opinions this week on this most controversial agreement.
The legal affairs committee will deliver its opinion on Wednesday 30 May on the impact of ACTA on EU legislation, the civil liberties committee will give its opinion on the compatibility of ACTA with fundamental rights, and, on the same day, the industry committee will deliver its opinion on the impact of ACTA on European industry. The rapporteurs for the industry and civil liberties committees - Amelia Andersdotter (Greens/EFA, Sweden) and Dimitrios Droutsas (S&D, Greece) respectively - recommend rejection of the agreement, but the legal affairs committee rapporteur Marielle Gallo (EPP, France) is not against its adoption.
The development committee, for which Jan Zahradil (ECR, Czech Republic) is the rapporteur, is also due to deliver its opinion in June, before the international trade committed adopts its position by the end of the month. On 25 April, the rapporteur on the issue in its entirety, David Martin (S&D, UK) called for ACTA to be voted down, because of its lack of clarity with regard to fundamental rights, and re-negotiated. Its weaknesses, which include too vague a definition of “commercial scale” and the implicit requirement that internet service provides act as internet police - mean that, in practice, ACTA could have the undesirable effect of weakening civil liberties, Martin stated.
The European Commission formally referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU at the end of April so that it might clarify the legality of ACTA, adoption of which by the EP appears to be uncertain.
The agreement, which was negotiated outside the WTO and behind closed doors, by Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and the EU, seeks to protect intellectual property against standard counterfeiting (clothing, medicines) and against digital counterfeiting (illegal downloading) on the basis of harmonised international standards.
Anti-ACTA demonstrations are scheduled to take place in several dozen EU cities on 9 June. (EH/transl.rt)