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MEPs to have their say on ACTA

Anti-counterfeiting vote expected to be close.

In one of the most eagerly awaited votes of this parliamentary term, MEPs will next week give their final verdict on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a controversial international treaty that is supposed to help in the fight against the trade in counterfeit goods. The plenary vote in Strasbourg, scheduled for Wednesday (4 July), is expected to be close, even though all five preparatory committees – including the international trade committee, which takes the lead on the treaty – have recommended its rejection.  

Supporters say that ACTA is an important tool in combating counterfeiting both online and offline. Opponents are concerned that the treaty might be used to curtail civil liberties.

ACTA has provoked a fierce backlash from activists who fear it will be used to restrict internet freedoms. Liberals, Greens and many members of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats group oppose the agreement, while the centre-right European People’s Party is in favour.

The European Commission referred ACTA to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for an assessment of whether it is in line with EU law. But David Martin, a centre-left British MEP who has drafted a report on ACTA, said last week that ratification of the agreement was a political rather than a legal matter, and that the Parliament should not delay its final vote until the ECJ issues its ruling, which is not expected until toward the end of the year. That view was shared by the committees that have voted on ACTA. Members of the international trade committee rejected the agreement by 19 votes to 12 votes last Thursday (21 June).

Commission’s case

Karel De Gucht, the European commissioner for trade, told MEPs ahead of that vote that the Commission will pursue its case before the ECJ regardless of the plenary vote next week.

Several EU member states have suspended their national ratification procedures to await the European Parliament’s position or the ECJ’s ruling. ACTA requires ratification by all 27 member states as well as by the Parliament.

ACTA was agreed in November 2010 after four years of negotiations among the 27 member states of the EU and ten other countries, including the US and Japan.

MEPs will vote at next week’s plenary in Strasbourg to extend the application of EU insurance and pension rules known as ‘Solvency I’, so as to allow more time for negotiations on new rules known as ‘Solvency II’.

Solvency I is currently scheduled to lapse at the end of October; the European Commission proposed last month to push back that date to 30 June 2013 to make sure its successor, on which amendments are currently under negotiation, is in place before the old rules expire.

A plenary vote on new bank capital requirements (CRD IV) has been removed from the agenda to give negotiators from the Parliament and the member states more time to reach an agreement.

Negotiations are scheduled for today (28 June), Tuesday (3 July) and Wednesday (4 July).

MEPs will on Wednesday debate the outcome of this week’s European Council.