ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TRADE AGREEMENT : S&D MAY REJECT ACTA.

The European Parliament's S&D group could reject the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), its leader, Hannes Swoboda (Austria), indicated, on 8 February, after an S&D meeting. "If the Parliament can only say yes' or no' and the text cannot be amended, there is a possibility that we, as a group, will not approve the agreement," said Swoboda.

This international treaty was signed by the Union and 22 member states on 26 January in order to create a preliminary international framework to step up the fight against intellectual property infringements (namely on the internet) and the counterfeiting of numerous products. The 27 member states of the Union, the US, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Mexico and Morocco are taking part - with China conspicuously absent.

Parliament now has to give its green light but the dossier remains a controversial one. The EP's Greens-EFA group has already called for a vote against the agreement.

"Our group strongly supports the fight against counterfeiting goods," said Swoboda. "There is a need for greater international cooperation, but we question whether ACTA would be the right tool to achieve this, particularly as several relevant countries, such as China and India, would not be included."

Some of the most frequent criticisms concern measures relative to copyright on the internet and checking online activities. "The text is too vague...