European Commission Tells Parliament ACTA Must Be Minimal

European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht today told the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg that it has become clear the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) could only be concluded by sticking to a minimum consensus. But this might result in some lack of effectiveness of the much-debated anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, he said. He reiterated the promise that ACTA would be strictly in line with existing EU legislation (the EU acquis) and that the final text would be published prior to signature. If the agreement does not mirror the acquis, the EU would have to reconsider signing it, he said.

Meanwhile, geographical products like champagne or parma ham should enjoy the same level of protection as trademark-protected Coca Cola, Daniel Caspary (Conservative Party Group, EPP) demanded, and thereby pointed to the major difference between the US and the EU in the ACTA talks. Nicolo Rinaldi (Liberal Party Group, ALDE) asked whether ACTA was worth the effort, given that major countries involved in counterfeiting were not party to the negotiations. And despite the recent toning down of the text with regard to third-party liability and the inclusion of a reference to the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health to calm concerns on generic medicine reiterated by many Members of Parliament, Jan Philipp Albrecht (Green Party Group) said a lot more changes are necessary before the agreement could be accepted by the parliamentary majority.