“While we welcome the
Parliament’s efforts to be seen as responsive to public concerns, organizations
representing sectors employing over 120 million workers in Europe were calling
for the adoption of ACTA,” said Jeffrey Hardy, Director of the International
Chamber of Commerce (ICC) initiative Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and
Piracy (BASCAP).
Anne Bergman-Tahon,
Director of the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), a member of a
coalition of over 130 organizations supporting ACTA said: “ACTA is an important
tool for promoting European jobs and intellectual property. Unfortunately the
treaty got off on the wrong foot in the Parliament, and the real and
significant merits of the treaty did not prevail.”
Many MEPs had hoped to
wait for the opinion of the Court of Justice before taking a final decision.
CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Frances
Moore said: “We now await the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU and
urge the European Parliament to make effective IPR enforcement a top priority
in our external trade policy.”
Intellectual property
rights remain the engine for Europe’s global competitiveness and a driver of
economic growth and jobs. In the current economic climate, it is particularly
crucial to protect these beyond the EU itself.
“Europe could have seized
the chance to support an important treaty that improved intellectual property
standards internationally. We expect that ACTA will move ahead without the EU,
which is a significant loss for the 27 Member States,” said Alan C. Drewsen,
Executive Director of the International Trademark Association (INTA).
The ACTA discussions are
the biggest multilateral negotiation to be concluded in the post-Lisbon Treaty
constitutional framework. Thomas Boue, Director of Government Affairs for the
Business Software Alliance (BSA) said: “The infringement of intellectual
property rights is a huge problem in Europe and there is a clear need to
advance international norms and best practices for the enforcement of IP. ACTA
would serve as an important step forward in raising the global standard for the
protection of IP rights. It was unfortunate that the treaty was held back by
inter-institutional differences and concerns over transparency.”
“Parliament says no to
ACTA but stresses that ’global coordination of IP protection is vital’. We
respect their position,” said Johannes Studinger, Head of UNI MEI Global Union.
“Indeed, in the global digital economy, sustainable growth of creative
industries requires effective enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Enforcement policies without a strong international commitment remain
ineffective. We call on EU institutions to work together instead of opposing
each other and to translate this mutual commitment into effective policies.”
Those debating ACTA have
invoked a number of principles and concerns. “The debate around ACTA has
unfortunately been framed in terms of censorship and ‘breaking of the Internet’
rather than about protecting the economic basis for jobs in Europe,” said
Dominick Luquer, Secretary General of the International Federation of Actors
(FIA).
“Contrary to many of the
statements made, the individual’s fundamental rights are fully respected by
ACTA, and we look forward to the Court of Justice assessment in this regard,” said Dara MacGreevy,
Anti-Piracy Director of the Interactive Software
Federation of Europe (ISFE), representing the European Video Games Industry.
Looking ahead, we believe
Europe’s politicians should continue their efforts to protect the intellectual
property that underpins our innovative and manufacturing sectors, at home and
abroad, online and offline. “We are encouraged by the statements made in the
European Parliament that today’s vote was not a vote against intellectual
property rights enforcement. Europe’s innovative manufacturing and creative
industries are now looking to the other ACTA signatories to protect our rights
internationally,” sai Alberto Paccanelli, CEO, President of EURATEX-The
European Apparel and Textile Confederation.