MEPs signal their support for ACTA

Civil liberties campaigners vow to step up lobbying of European Parliament

The European Parliament today passed a resolution welcoming the almost final text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

The MEPs' vote, which effectively gives the European Commission the green light to agree the final ACTA wording, was described today as a "call to arms for those interested in maintaining freedom of speech and internet-led innovation" by a member of civil liberties advocacy group La Quadrature du Net.

The resolution was passed with the backing of the European Parliament's conservative EPP and ECR groups, as well as some members of the liberal ALDE group. ACTA's supporters won the vote by 331 to 294, with 11 members abstaining.

The opposing group comprised the S&D/Greens/ALDE and GUE.

This is the first time in 11 rounds of internal negotiations, including two resolutions, one written petition and one written declaration, that the pro-ACTA lobby has beaten those opposed to the agreement.

ACTA aims to enforce online intellectual property rights and combat online piracy as well as illegal software. The ACTA negotiations have been embroiled in controversy from their inception because of secret nature of some of the talks.

The almost final text of the ACTA agreement will be the subject of a final round of negotiations at the European Commission, to be held in Sydney from 30 November to 3 December.

If rubber-stamped, the agreement will be presented again to the European Parliament, probably some time in the second half of 2011.

A member of La Quadrature du Net, Jérémie Zimmermann, said: "This resolution is a political statement from the parliament, and is very worrying for advocates of civil liberties; MEPs needs to be made aware of how this legislation would limit innovation and put corporations above the rights of ordinary citizens [before the agreement is passed].

"Now is the time to lobby your MEPs," he added.

A spokesperson for the Commission explained that the negotiations in Sydney were likely to be complicated by the fact that there are so many parties involved - the treaty is international in scope and the negotiations will see representatives from Australia, the US and the UK among others.

In addition, the Lisbon treaty passed just a year ago has given the European Parliament the power to reject legislation from the Commission, meaning lobbying of the Parliament could result in a positive outcome for the civil liberties campaigners.