Brussels, 21/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - It came as no surprise that the European Parliament (EP) international trade committee should reject the highly contentious international anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, ACTA.
ACTA now has one foot in the grave. Following the recommendations of rapporteur David Martin (S&D, UK) the committee, meeting on Thursday 21 June, rejected ratification of the agreement by 19 votes to 12. The multi-lateral agreement was negotiated outside the auspices of the WTO and behind closed doors between 2007 and 2010 by Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and the EU. It seeks to protect intellectual property from both traditional counterfeiting (clothes, medicines) and digital counterfeiting (illegal downloading) using harmonised international standards. The very full agreement, which covers patents, copyright and trademarks, and geographical indications, has, from the start of the year, been the target of a wave of protest across civil society against its possible restrictions to internet access and its restriction of access to generic medicines. Its lack of clarity on fundamental rights effectively sounded the death knell of an agreement that has already been rejected by four EP committees asked to deliver their opinions - civil liberties, legal affairs, development and industry. Without waiting for the opinion of the European Court of Justice to which the agreement was referred by the Commission in April and whose response is not expected for some months, the EP will deliver its view on ACTA at its plenary session of 2-5 July.
Cautious satisfaction from opponents. In the S&D Group, rapporteur David Martin was pleased that the committee had “acknowledged the problems I have identified in my report” and had followed his recommendation to reject ACTA, which is “not the right treaty with which to address commercial-scale counterfeiting and piracy”. “With this vote, we have gone one step closer to Parliament killing off ACTA in the EU. We now expect the Parliament's plenary to strongly back this at the beginning of July”, he said. For the Greens, Yannick Jadot (France), hailing “a victory for those who defend a balanced approach between freedom of access and protection of innovation and creation”, nevertheless, counselled caution. “Nothing has yet been won, such is the pressure on Parliament from the major groups and Karel De Gucht”, he warned, accusing the commissioner of “using economic blackmail, brandishing the threat of a loss of competitiveness if ACTA were not approved”.
Victory for public freedom and democracy. French Green MEP Sandrine Belier, who has long been at the forefront of the battle against ACTA, welcomed the outcome of a vote which, just like the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), highlights that this treaty is a serious threat to fundamental rights. The outcome of the vote was “confirmation of the fears raised in the petitions committee, whose members left open the anti-ACTA petition which has so far been signed by almost three million citizens”. Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL, Germany) hailed a day which “marks a victory for democracy”. “In the days prior to the vote, thousands of citizens sent protest letters to MEPs' mailboxes”, he added. For the ALDE Group, Niccolo Rinaldi welcomed the rejection of a treaty that is a danger to civil liberties. “Liberals and Democrats played a significant part in this morning's international trade committee vote to reject the ACTA agreement. Given the stance of the EPP group to wait for an opinion from the European Court of Justice, the vote was always going to be a close call. However, for ALDE, the agreement contained too many grey areas and its effectiveness in tackling international counterfeiting and violations of intellectual property is seriously doubted”, Rinaldi stated, drawing two lessons. Firstly, the EP is “responsive to citizens' expectations”, and secondly, the Commission and Council “must explain themselves before public opinion and show transparency in negotiations”.
Constructive opponents. While firmly opposed to ACTA, the Socialists, Communists, Greens and Liberals are nonetheless committed to finding alternative solutions to better protect intellectual property rights and provide an effective challenge to counterfeiting internationally. Property rights can be upheld by more appropriate legal instruments, said Rinaldi. The S&D Group is ready to begin discussions with all the political groups on better ways to protect copyright and the creativity of European companies and manufacturers without endangering basic rights, stated Bernd Lange (German). Scholz (GUE/NGL) called for “completely new and transparent deliberations in the multilateral framework of the World Intellectual Property Rights Organisation (WIPO)” to defend the creative sector.
Polish MEPs distinguish themselves from Conservative Right. Ten of the 11 EPP MEPs on the committee followed the advice of their shadow rapporteur, Christofer Fjellner of Sweden, who called for the Court of Justice ruling to be awaited before deciding on the future of ACTA. Polish MEP Pawel Zalewski set himself apart by voting with the opponents of the agreement and calling for amendment of the law on intellectual property protection on the internet in order to “enlarge the notion of fair use of the internet, so that we can download and share files more easily”, before going on to look at effective rights protection. In the ECR Group, Polish MEP Konrad Szymanski, too, voted differently from his British colleagues. (EH/transl.rt)