Amplified
protests and delays in the domestic procedures of several European Union member
states have cast doubts on the future EU ratification of the controversial
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which was signed by the EU and 22
of its member states in Tokyo last month.
The
EU’s signature prompted the resignation of the previous ACTA rapporteur to the
European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA), Kader Arif.
Arif
was replaced in this role by David Martin, a British Member of the European
Parliament, last week amid rising tension over the
pact’s provisions.
ACTA
is a plurilateral trade pact
aimed at combating intellectual property rights (IPRs) infringement through the
establishment of new international standards of IPRs enforcement. ACTA
detractors fear that some of the provisions contained in the final text, which
go beyond the standards set by the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), may have a detrimental effect on access
to medicines and fundamental freedoms in the digital environment.
Other
ACTA signatories include Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, New
Zealand, Singapore, and the United States. However, the agreement will enter
into legal force only after it has been ratified by six negotiating parties.
Protests
gain momentum in EU countries
On
11 February, demonstrations against ACTA erupted across several European cities
in countries such as Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and
the United Kingdom.
In
a statement to AFP, Mantas Kondratavicius,
one of the rally organisers in Vilnius, Lithuania, said that “some provisions
of the treaty are too ambiguous and allow different interpretations,” and that
these provisions should “not come at the expense of privacy or freedom of
speech.”
ACTA
has also become the subject of political
controversy in the European Parliament (EP). In an interview to the German
television station ARD, EU Parliament President Martin Schulz expressed his
concerns over the pact’s imbalances between copyright protection and the
freedoms of Internet users.
“I
don’t find it good in its current form,” Schulz said.
To
quell concerns about the agreement, newly-appointed ACTA rapporteur Martin emphasised that “ACTA is meant to be about better enforcement
of existing copyright and intellectual property rights through international
co-operation” and that modifications to the existing EU laws on intellectual
property should not be necessary.
These
debates have prompted concerns by officials over a supposed lack of
evidence-based discussions on the ACTA subject, with the European Commissioner
for Trade Karel De Gucht
addressing a letter to the INTA asking the MEPs
to “take a position based on full information.”
In
the same vein, more than 50 industry associations circulated another letter last Friday urging MEPs and national ministries to
conduct a “calm and reasoned assessment of the facts.”
For
his part, David Martin underscored his intention to hold a facts-based
discussion on ACTA in the parliament.
Roadblocks
still ahead on the road to EU ratification
Protests
are not the only factor troubling ACTA’s EU ratification. The EU Commission has
noted that ACTA needs to be both signed and
ratified by all EU countries because the treaty contains criminal enforcement
provisions, an area of shared competence between the EU and its member states.
In
recent weeks, many EU member states - such as Germany, Poland, the Czech
Republic, and Slovakia - have delayed their domestic procedures in order to
hold more extensive discussions on ACTA.
Specifically,
Germany and Slovakia have delayed their signature, while Poland and the Czech
Republic have delayed their ratification of the pact.
Germany
said the delay is needed “to leave room for discussion” and could perhaps
postpone its signature until after the EU Parliament votes on the matter.
Finally,
the Dutch Parliament on 14 February adopted a motion asking the government not
to sign the treaty until it is conclusively proven that ACTA does
not conflict with fundamental rights.
The
EU Parliament’s express consent is needed before the Council of Ministers can
decide to adopt the agreement; the parliamentary plenary session vote on ACTA
is scheduled take place in the summer.