Dutch ACTA documents leak; European Parliament critical

Webwereld has obtained two Dutch documents about the international negotiations for a new treaty to protect intellectual property.

The leaked documents contain a report on the progress during the meetings that are otherwise shrouded in mystery. EU Member States have pushed for transparency during the meetings, but the European Commission has not been forthcoming in that respect.

The liberal fraction of the European Parliament takes a very dim view of the prolonged secrecy and has requested the issue be debated in the Parliament. Parlementarian Sophie in ‘t Veld also speaks badly of how the negotiations are treated by the Dutch Parliament. In an interview with Webwereld she says: “They haven’t got a clue as to what is being discussed. Worse: I think most parliamentarians don’t rightly know what it is.” She views the attitude of the Dutch Parliament as naïve and wonders why it hasn’t insisted on openness.

 In ‘t Veld finds the lack of transparency disturbing also because this makes it hard for the European Parliament, that ultimately has to ratify the treaty for the EU, to gain a clear view on the contents of the treaty. Ultimately, the Parliament can only vote for or against and cannot request amending the treaty.

26 February 2010