Brussels, 03/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Opposing the call by Conservatives to postpone the vote whilst waiting for an opinion from the European Court of Justice, the majority of MEPs at the European Parliament are expected to definitively bury the very controversial international anti counterfeiting agreement (ACTA). Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht negotiated the draft on behalf of the EU and made a last-ditch attempt on Tuesday 3 July to save the multilateral agreement, which was negotiated outside the jurisdiction of the WTO between 2007 and 2010 by the biggest industrial economies in the world: Australia, Canada, South Korea, US, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the EU, as well as Morocco. This agreement is aimed at protecting industrial property in both the more traditional field of clothing and medicine, as well as in the digital arena (illegal downloading), on the basis of harmonised standards.
During the final plenary debate, before the vote at Parliament on Wednesday on the future of the text, De Gucht argued that “ACTA does not encroach on our freedoms but defends our way of life. A vote against would be a blow to intellectual property protection throughout the world”. It is highly likely that the text will be thrown out, particularly after the international trade committee at the Parliament and the four committees requested for their recommendations - legal affairs, civil liberties, industry and development - followed the recommendation of rapporteur David Martin (S&D, United Kingdom). This recommendation on Tuesday highlighted the major shortcomings of the agreement, such as the absence of any clear definition of “the commercial scale” and the implicit demand made to internet providers to act as if they were policing the web. On the Left, the S&D, GUE/NGL and Greens, and the bulk of the Liberals, as well as a few Conservatives, announced that they would vote against the text. Christofer Fjellner from Sweden, the shadow rapporteur for the EPP, supports the agreement and before the vote will argue for the vote to be postponed, so that the European Court of Justice has time to give its opinion on the compatibility of ACTA with fundamental rights in the EU. (EH/transl.fl)