Spoiling the ACTA?
On the day, EP emails were under fire. The usually full mailbox the MEP's office was more than ever overwhelmed with ACTA related emails, some in English, some in other languages (not only the understandable Czech and Slovak), some mentioning the treaty, some avoiding spam and scam filters by using their own words, some knowing their interest, some not understanding the case at all. (It is a good practice the office to write in response as it cannot afford an expensive campaign or treat journalists with bribes and uses the assistants for hard work on real issues rather than strategic licking power with their silver tongues on political chessboards). Below is a common example of messages received, which I used to formulate a generalized answer to be sent back:
Dear
member of EU Parliament,
As
an EU citizen, I would like to press you to vote against ACTA for the following
reasons:
Please let me know what you voting behavior will be.
Well, I found it a real pleasure answering, as this was supporting a case Ms. Roithová had been publicly pointing out already in February 2010 as one of so called 4 ACTA Musketeers (the others were Françoise Castex, France, S&D; Alexandr Alvar, Germany, ALDE and Stavros Lambrinidis, Greece, S&D. (First written declaration pushed through by an MEP from the Czech Republic;).
The political prelude to ACTA and the position of the European Parliament
As many treaties before, ACTA has been initiated in hidden backgrounds and never attracted enough support to progress through talks on the grounds of the UN or other international forums, as many countries (China and India named as the largest ones) avoid any bindings on this issues as it could hit large parts of their industry. The first mentions appeared apparently on Wikileaks in 2007 (Wikipedia) and different versions of the treaty have been monitored since (IP Justice has done a great job).The European Parliament was empowered to get involved no sooner than after the entry of the Lisbon Treaty into force in December 2009. The written declaration mentioned above entered into force in September 2010 when more than half of the 754 MEPs from the EU-27 signed. The European Parliament also interpellated the European Commission asking to be fully informed about international agreement under discussion and providing the text of ACTA, a precedent case based on article 218 of the Lisbon Treaty.
The European Commission provided them with a version of the agreement in April 2011 for MEPs only, offered discussions and the finally published signed version of the treaty from October 2011. Given criticisms of the outcomes, the Commission has turned to the European Court of Justice to preliminary specify any cases the implementation of ACTA could cause. At the moment, the situation is being monitored and will be further communicated by the institutions when the time comes.
Criticisms and reactions to ACTA
I agree with the position of Zuzana Roithova, which appreciates better standarts taken in by some signatories (eg.Morroco), harmonisation of some technical definitions and above all weaking the commerce privacy in large amount. (Naturally, the problem China, India and Brasil, who are not likely to adopt the treaty, persists and systemically weakens force of the treaty). The cooperation of the Commission proved useful as the Commission managed to negotiate guarantees to protect users and right of fair trial.Unlike well lobbied through interests of entertainment industry, the special interests of original food (regional products), so typical in Europe, could maybe even worsen on the global markets. The position of Zuzana Roithova also does not play down options of bullying EU citizens through controls of little personal deliveries as there is no definition of commercial scales and a possibility of controls of digital materials on portable media on borders.
Some EU-27 countries have refused to sign ACTA (eg. Slovakia or the well-prepared diplomacy in Netherlands), and it is them who will have the last word if the Parliament approves. Some have used ACTA to gain political fame, such as French MEP Kader Arif (S&D), who dramatically resigned from the position of rapporteur at the peak of Anonymous protests on January 26th. I have heard criticisms about sending the case to the ECJ, as it can postpone the entry into force by almost two years and the legislation is badly needed by the industry. I heard false or not fully correct criticisms on YouTube and I heard public emotions. No matter where ACTA heads, and I truly believe the most sensible decision will be taken on it, I hope this has been an excellent school of democracy to the public.
Lessons to remember
The thought of European Union stands on building a block of freedom and democracy where our cooperation gives us strength to protect Europe from intrusion or previously so painfully experienced turf wars. The European Commission is a surprisingly effective administration body, which does not have a decisive power only a chance to listen to stakeholders and look after agenda. Power has until recently been held in the European Council, which are basically meetings of national prime ministers, ministers and their delegates as we vote for them in national elections. The Lisbon Treaty, which the Czech president Václav Klaus so stupidly opposed, gave finally more power to the European Parliament. This parliament is not based on strong majority vote to favor large parties and therefore reflects better views of European citizens. It is also little distant from skirmishes on national political scenes and more eager to listen to real problems. Hopefully, ACTA has been just a lesson to active citizens to push through their interests.There is information published online by the European Commission, DG Communication of the European Parliament, the Council (the last two offer even online streaming), there are servers on European agenda, some countries follow very decently all EU agenda (eg UK - esp. House of Lords), Brussels serves as a hub for NGOs. Politics has never been this open for active citizens.
I just believe we all will become participants of our own future not to wear masks.
Lenka Soukupova
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