Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-08-Speech-3-082"
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"en.20100908.5.3-082"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, you have just said some reassuring things, but I still do not think that the concerns shared by a large number of Members about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) have been completely dispelled.
Back in March, I proposed a resolution, which was passed by a large majority in this Chamber, and which made it possible to publish the negotiating text. During the debate, we called for the
which you have referred to – the safety and supply of generic medicines to be guaranteed and the fundamental freedoms of our fellow citizens to be respected. We also referred to geographical indications, and we did so in order to tell you our priorities, which I am going to keep on repeating to you so that the position which you will defend in a few weeks’ time in Japan is based on the parliamentary debate which we have managed to initiate.
Yesterday, during the debate on the State of the Union, many speakers quite rightly pointed out that we MEPs are the spokespeople for our fellow citizens and that, without this link, the Commission is in danger of engaging in a sterile confrontation with Parliament. I am therefore asking you, Commissioner, to consider, as a priority, that the MEPs before you are first and foremost your partners and are not here to simply contradict you.
The partnership we want is not one in which we are bound, as your services sometimes seem to want, by a vow of secrecy. Your services have just answered our questions behind closed doors. We are given the latest version of the ACTA text but we are prohibited from sending any messages when we leave these meetings or after we have read the agreement, whereas our role is to alert, explain and ensure things are understood. This is therefore my second request for you to regard the transparency of debates as an element which enriches your deliberations rather than as a breakdown of trust.
In addition to these two main issues, and because I am starting to become accustomed to this type of exercise, I am going to inform you of my concerns. First of all, there is access to medicines. This has been mentioned. You tell us that protecting access is one of your priorities, that you are doing everything possible to ensure that nothing in this agreement hinders their manufacture or free movement. At this point, however, I would ask you about patents. Why do you want to include them in this agreement? The desire to step up the legitimate fight against counterfeiting should not be a pretext for using ACTA as a means of extending the rights of patentees way beyond what is set out in the TRIPS agreement. Please do not confuse generic medicines with counterfeit medicines.
Another important point is safeguards. Texts cannot be too rigorous in ensuring a true balance between the rights of users and those of rights holders. I refer you to the various formulations contained in the TRIPS agreement.
I welcome your comments about the Internet and I have great confidence in the idea that ACTA will not serve to weaken the EU position clearly expressed in the E-Commerce Directive.
Commissioner, there are definitely other issues I should raise this morning, but the first duty I am setting myself is to ensure that, thanks to this debate, we are able to provide as much information as possible on this agreement to all our fellow citizens, and to tell you that the key element for me is the protection of their rights and their fundamental freedoms. This is why I expect you to bear in mind the points raised by Members and to defend them during the negotiations. I also call on you to honour your commitment to publish the text as soon as the negotiations have been completed, whether this is at the end of the round in Japan or at a subsequent stage.
The public debate will have to take place, for example, in this Chamber. I shall therefore ask for a resolution, and we expect you to take our point of view into account before any signing of ACTA takes place, even if this means returning to the negotiating table."@en1
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