The culmination of weeks of campaigning and lobbying against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) came this morning, as the European Parliament voted 478 to 39 to reject it, despite the fact that twenty-two member states, including the United Kingdom, had already signed it. As a result, the Agreement is now likely to become irrelevant without the support of European Union nations.
The Agreement had already been rejected by five Committees of the European Parliament, and despite attempts by Conservative MEPs to defer the vote, as urged by UNI MEI, a “global union for the Media, Entertainment and Art Industries”, until the opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union was announced, MEPs from across the political spectrum came together to conclusively defeat it.
As noted by Catherine Bearder, Liberal Democrat MEP for South East England, after the Agreement was rejected by the International Trade Committee two weeks ago;
“Liberal Democrat MEPs take the issue of copyright and counterfeiting very seriously as property rights – including intellectual property rights – form the basis of our economy and also help prevent dangerous counterfeit products, such as medicines, electronics and toys from entering our markets.
“However, the ACTA negotiations have been marked from the beginning by an unnecessary lack of transparency and wider consultation and a potential attack on the fundamental civil rights of individual internet users. On balance, concerns with regard to civil rights outweigh the limited benefits of ACTA, to which even major countries known for their counterfeit products – such as China – have not subscribed.”
After the vote, Marietje Schaake (D66, Netherlands), ALDE spokesperson on digital freedom, claimed;
“Today marks a victory for European democracy and for digital freedoms. As we close the ACTA chapter we must now focus on reforming copyright management and completing the European digital single market. In any future enforcement of trade treaties we need sector specific approaches to counterfeiting and must differentiate between tangible goods and digital content. In this reform process different stakeholders should be part of an inclusive, transparent and democratic decision making process.”
ACTA’s survival now depends on whether or not the US will ratify it, and while President Obama has previously shown his support for the treaty, digital freedom campaigners there are certain to maintain their opposition, especially in a Presidential election year.
* Mark Valladares is a member of the Council of the European Liberal Democrats. He can’t see Brussels from Creeting St Peter…