Swoboda: serious concerns about ACTA agreement as it stands (Watch the video)

In a meeting in Brussels today, the European Socialists and Democrats Group had extensive discussions on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). This international agreement aims at strengthening the global enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR).

The agreement will be submitted to the Parliament for its consent and the rapporteur on the text within the Parliament is MEP David Martin, a member of the S&D Group. The Parliament's committee on international trade will hold a first exchange of views on the agreement on 29 February and a public hearing will be organised on 1 March.

Commenting on the outcome of today's discussions, S&D Group Leader Hannes Swoboda said:

"Our Group strongly supports the fight against counterfeiting goods. This is not only detrimental to industry and jobs but also to consumers. There is a need for greater international co-operation but we question whether ACTA would be the right tool to achieve this, particularly as several relevant countries such as China and India would not be included.

"Our main criticism relates to copyright enforcement on the internet and the definition and monitoring of activities online. The text is too vague and we need to have clarification of the role of internet service providers (ISPs) in policing the agreement.

"We understand the genuine concerns voiced by stakeholders and citizens. Therefore, we will organise a series of round tables to discuss the impact of this agreement and its compatibility with EU law in greater detail.

"Since the Parliament can only say yes or no and we cannot amend the text, we as a Group might not be able to approve the agreement."

Utta Tuttlies

utta.tuttlies@europarl.europa.eu

+ 32 2 284 37 44

+ 33 3 88 17 29 98

+ 32 495 19 26 67

www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu

Associated media

Commenting on the outcome of today's discussions, S&D Group Leader Hannes Swoboda said: ‘Our Group strongly supports the fight against counterfeiting goods. This is not only detrimental to industry and jobs but also to consumers. There is a need for greater international co-operation but we question whether ACTA would be the right tool to achieve this, particularly as several relevant countries such as China and India would not be included’