David Martin, the European Parliament's rapporteur on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), today announced that he will recommend that Parliament votes against this controversial trade agreement because it does not provide enough guarantees for citizens. 

 

Mr Martin made this announcement at the end of a public debate organised by the S&D Group in the European Parliament with representatives of industry, NGOs, unions, internet groups and citizens concerned about the effects of implementing ACTA.

 

David Martin said: "Today's conference has confirmed my suspicion that ACTA raises more fears than hopes.

 

"What it delivers in terms of important intellectual property rights is diminished by potential threats to civil liberties and internet freedom.

 

"When the European Parliament rejects ACTA, the Commission must work to find other ways to defend European intellectual property in the global marketplace."

 

The president of the S&D Group, Euro MP Hannes Swoboda, fully supported Mr Martin's position. He said: "Next week, at our upcoming group meeting, I will recommend to all Socialists and Democrats to reject ACTA.

 

"It will be important to find a way to solve standing problems through a transparent process and in a way whereby freedoms of Internet users will not be further restricted".

 

S&D vice-president Sylvie Guillaume said: "This conference has once again confirmed our fears about the potential risks of a text like this for the fundamental liberties of European citizens. It's not a question of whether we should fight counterfeiting and piracy, but in this case, and given the legal uncertainty and doubts surrounding this Agreement, it is not acceptable."

 

S&D spokesperson on trade, Bernd Lange, said: "There are many open questions about the potential implementation of ACTA. Since the Parliament does not have the right to amend the text, the only responsible answer we can give to citizens is to reject the agreement and start working on better pieces of legislation:

 

"We need to fight counterfeiting of goods and we also need to update regulation of the digital environment. But these two things must be separate."

 

David Martin will present his proposal on 25th April, the parliamentary committee for international trade will vote on it by the end of May, and the plenary of the Parliament will give its final word before the summer.

 

 

+ 32 2 284 30 18

+ 33 3 88 17 81 64

+ 32 473 23 41 73

Associated media

Delicious Digg Facebook Reddit Stumpleupon Google Live Yahoo Twitter