The European Commission refers ACTA to the European Court of Justice

Earlier we wrote that discussion on the European Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement heated up again, when thousands of people protested against ACTA in many European cities. Due to the discussions it may seem difficult to distinguish rumours and facts about ACTA. For example, it is said the ACTA agreement is not compatible with European law. To clarify this issue, European Commissioner Karel De Gucht proposed to refer ACTA to the European Court of Justice to provide more clarity about the legality of this agreement. Today, De Gucht announced in a statement that his fellow Commissioners agreed with his proposal.

In his statement De Gucht says: “ This debate must be based upon facts and not upon the misinformation or rumour that has dominated (social) media and blogs in recent weeks”. Now, the European Commission will ask the European Court of Justice whether ACTA is incompatible with EU’s fundamental rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression and information or data protection and the right to property in case of intellectual property.

ACTA is a controversial agreement. The goal of the treaty is to set international standards for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property. The scope of ACTA includes fighting against trade in counterfeit products such as clothing and medicine and illegal copying of software, games and music. On 26 January 2012, the European Commission and 22 of its 27 Member States signed the ACTA agreement.

However before ACTA may enter into force, it has to be ratified by all EU Member States. Above that, ACTA needs the European Parliament’s consent before it will have legal force. On 1 March 2012, the European Parliament is scheduled to discuss ACTA for the first time. The Parliament cannot amend the ACTA agreement, but only approve or reject it. With the question of legality of the agreement now pending before the Court of Justice, the EP is expected to postpone substantive debates on ACTA until the opinion of the Court is available. This means the ratification of ACTA in Europe will be delayed considerably.

Read European Commissioner Karel De Gucht his statement here

By : Deniece Teterissa