ACTA faces three EU Parliament votes this week

Members of the Committee on Legal Affairs will vote today on the impact of the deal on EU law.

Tomorrow the Committee on Civil Liberties will vote in the compatibility of ACTA with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy will give its opinion on ACTA’s impact on EU industries.

The results of this week’s voting will be taken into account by Parliament’s lead committee on ACTA, which is due to vote in June giving a formal recommendation on the Parliament’s position on ACTA.

Earlier this month Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission and in charge of its digital agenda, told an audience “we are now likely to be in a world without SOPA and without ACTA”.

“We have recently seen how many thousands of people are willing to protest against rules which they see as constraining the openness and innovation of the internet,” she said. “This is a strong new political voice. And as a force for openness, I welcome it, even if I do not always agree with everything it says on every subject.”

A majority of politicians in the Dutch Parliament is reported to have voted on Tuesday in favour of a motion to reject ACTA.