ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TRADE AGREEMENT : COMMISSION REFERS ACTA TO COURT.

The European Commission intends to refer a question to the EU Court of Justice on the conformity of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) with EU law, Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht said, on 22 February. This agreement in principle was reached after the weekly meeting of the College of Commissioners, which took place in the morning. From a legal point of view, under Article 218, Paragraph 11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), the Commission can ask the court for an opinion.

"We are planning to ask Europe's highest court to assess whether ACTA is incompatible - in any way - with the EU's fundamental rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression and information or data protection and intellectual property rights," the commissioner told the press. He hopes that the court will give a positive opinion.

The ACTA was signed by the EU and its 22 member states on 26 January. It aims to create a preliminary global framework to boost the fight against intellectual property law infringements and counterfeiting of numerous products. The EU, the US, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Mexico and Morocco are taking part but China and India are not. To enter into force, the ACTA must be approved by national parliaments, as well as the European Parliament. But...