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On March 27, the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee (INTA) voted 21-5 to reject a request by MEP David Martin to refer the Anticounterfeiting Trade Agreement to the European Court of Justice.  Martin wanted the Court to determine whether or not the agreement conflicts with EU law.  The INTA will instead conduct its own ACTA review, and the full Parliament will vote on ACTA ratification in July.

Many opponents of the agreement applaud the move.

Before the hearing, a joint statement by Health Action International, Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, Oxfam, and Médecins Sans Frontières warned that “the Commission has resorted to this referral in an attempt to deflect growing protests and avoid ACTA being definitively rejected by national governments and the European Parliament. The ECJ referral will only assess ACTA’s compatibility with EU Treaty law and not with obligations under international agreements in relation to access to medicines. This limited legal assessment under the ECJ referral does not assess fundamental political questions ACTA raises for its lack of accountability and transparency, the bypassing of multilateral forums, and its impact on access to medicines.”

After yesterday’s announcement, La Quadrature du Net cofounder Philippe Aigrain said in a statement that “This vote is the first real test for the balance of views in the EU Parliament since the global anti-ACTA citizen movement took off. It demonstrates a growing understanding of ACTA’s issues by a wide range of MEPs, and an ability to avoid the procedural traps set up by the EU Commission and some pro-ACTA MEPs. It is promising step, but only the final rejection of ACTA will settle the issue.”

For more information:

• Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch. “European Parliament Rejects Referral Of ACTA To EU High Court.” March 27, 2012.
• Constant Brand for the European Voice. “MEPs reject plan to refer ACTA to the ECJ.”  March 27, 2012.