European Parliament rejects ACTA

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was overwhelmingly rejected by the European Parliament on July 4, 2012, by 478 votes to 39, with 165 abstentions. For the first time, MEPs took advantage of their right under the Lisbon Treaty not to accept international trade agreements, announced the press office of the EU Parliament. Thus, the controversial trade agreement, which provoked large-scale protests in European cities and was widely criticised over its likely assault on Internet freedoms cannot become a low in the European Union.

“I am very pleased that the European Parliament accepted my recommendation to reject ACTA,” said rapporteur David Martin and repeated his concerns that the agreement was too vague, could be interpreted incorrectly and, thereby, endanger civil liberties. However, he added that alternative ways of protecting the intellectual property in the EU should be found.

Before the crucial vote, the Chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP) Group, Joseph Daul, tried to save  ACTA, appealing for its revision and voting on it later, arguing that its rejection would mean “throwing hundreds of thousands of jobs through the window”, but his proposal was not accepted by the majority. The European Commission’s call for adopting the agreement was not of any help either. During the debate, MEPs were subjected to unprecedented pressure by e-mail, street demonstrations, phone calls in their offices, etc. A petition from 2.8 million citizens from all over the world arrived at the European Parlaiment, demanding ACTA to be rejected.

So far, ACTA has been approved by the European Commission on behalf of the EU and 22 EU member-states, and also by the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other countries. The negative vote means that neither the EU, nor the EU member-states can join the agreement.

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