From: Sharon Bowles Office
To: me
Sent: Thu, 20 May 2010 12:17:45 +0100
Subject: RE: Please help to make ACTA more transparent by supporting motion WD 12 2010 (My Ref: DT1078-INTA) Dear Mr. Collins, Thank you for your email. I voted in favour of the resolution you have mentioned opposing the ACTA negotiating process. The Commission have since released the negotiation documents and they can be viewed online at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=552&serie=337&langId=en. This is something that was long overdue and I welcome it. I have been concerned about the substance of the ACTA negotiations and the perceived lack of transparency surrounding them. Issues of intellectual property are today very sensitive with the greater availability of content online and this has provoked a number of unwelcome actions by governments in the name of copyright protection. Given that intellectual property issues are an area where there are very legitimate differences of opinion across the political spectrum, it is unacceptable that the basic principles under which the Commission is negotiating on our behalf were not earlier made public and open to challenge and complaint. It should be acknowledged for the sake of fairness that as an international negotiation the responsibility for transparency has not rested solely with Europe but also with our fellow negotiating partners. It appears that the release of negotiating documents was hitherto blocked by a number of the other negotiating partners, including the United States and Mexico, and that their release has been as a result of European pressure. However in international negotiations which have an economic impact it is by no means unusual for them to take place behind closed doors. Complete disclosure of information on any issue while it is the subject of international negotiation has the potential to impede the proper conduct of such negotiations. It is worth remembering that under the Lisbon Treaty, the Commission has a legally-enforceable obligation to inform Parliament of the progress of all international negotiations at every stage, and that ultimately Parliament has the power to reject any international agreement with which it is not satisfied. The Commission and Council must learn to adapt to the new powers of the European Parliament post-Lisbon and begin to habitually include Parliament and the public at every stage. Yours sincerely, Sharon Bowles MEP
Office of Sharon Bowles MEP, Liberal Democrat
Chair of the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Tel. +44 (0)1442 875 962
www.sharonbowles.org.uk -----Original Message-----
From: me
Sent: 19 May 2010 12:43
To: Sharon Bowles Office
Subject: Please help to make ACTA more transparent by supporting motion WD 12 2010 Ms Sharon Margaret Bowles
South East
European Parliament
BELGIUM Dear Ms Bowles, I urge you to sign Written Declaration 12/2010 tabled by Fran?oise Castex, Zuzana Roithov?, Alexander Alvaro, Stavros Lambrinidis which calls for greater transparency of the ACTA process. The European Commission, the United States and eleven other countries have secretly negotiated the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) for over two years. ACTA is a global multilateral agreement that seeks to establish international standards to tackle the counterfeiting of goods, generic medicines and online copyright infringement. I am worried, however that it will also threaten fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression, introduce harsh punishments and makes the access to generic medicines more difficult. Although I welcome the recent release of the draft text, I strongly believe that the whole process needs to be more transparent. The positions of individual countries remain in the dark, so European citizens still don't know who is pushing for the most severe measures such as the three strikes provision which could disconnect citizens from the internet. Among other things Written Declaration 12/2010 - calls on the European Commission to immediately release all ACTA related documents - states that ACTA should not limit judicial due process or weaken fundamental rights and data protection - emphasises that Internet Service Providers should not be liable for the data they transmit - states that the access to generic medicines should not be impeded In March MEPs overwhelmingly approved a common resolution opposing the ACTA negotiations process. By signing Written Declaration 12/2010 you ensure that the call for transparency remains a top priority and put pressure on the European Commission to bring up the issue at the next ACTA round in Switzerland. Thanks very much. Yours sincerely,
Greg Collins
HORSHAM
To: me
Sent: Thu, 20 May 2010 12:17:45 +0100
Subject: RE: Please help to make ACTA more transparent by supporting motion WD 12 2010 (My Ref: DT1078-INTA) Dear Mr. Collins, Thank you for your email. I voted in favour of the resolution you have mentioned opposing the ACTA negotiating process. The Commission have since released the negotiation documents and they can be viewed online at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=552&serie=337&langId=en. This is something that was long overdue and I welcome it. I have been concerned about the substance of the ACTA negotiations and the perceived lack of transparency surrounding them. Issues of intellectual property are today very sensitive with the greater availability of content online and this has provoked a number of unwelcome actions by governments in the name of copyright protection. Given that intellectual property issues are an area where there are very legitimate differences of opinion across the political spectrum, it is unacceptable that the basic principles under which the Commission is negotiating on our behalf were not earlier made public and open to challenge and complaint. It should be acknowledged for the sake of fairness that as an international negotiation the responsibility for transparency has not rested solely with Europe but also with our fellow negotiating partners. It appears that the release of negotiating documents was hitherto blocked by a number of the other negotiating partners, including the United States and Mexico, and that their release has been as a result of European pressure. However in international negotiations which have an economic impact it is by no means unusual for them to take place behind closed doors. Complete disclosure of information on any issue while it is the subject of international negotiation has the potential to impede the proper conduct of such negotiations. It is worth remembering that under the Lisbon Treaty, the Commission has a legally-enforceable obligation to inform Parliament of the progress of all international negotiations at every stage, and that ultimately Parliament has the power to reject any international agreement with which it is not satisfied. The Commission and Council must learn to adapt to the new powers of the European Parliament post-Lisbon and begin to habitually include Parliament and the public at every stage. Yours sincerely, Sharon Bowles MEP
Office of Sharon Bowles MEP, Liberal Democrat
Chair of the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Tel. +44 (0)1442 875 962
www.sharonbowles.org.uk -----Original Message-----
From: me
Sent: 19 May 2010 12:43
To: Sharon Bowles Office
Subject: Please help to make ACTA more transparent by supporting motion WD 12 2010 Ms Sharon Margaret Bowles
South East
European Parliament
BELGIUM Dear Ms Bowles, I urge you to sign Written Declaration 12/2010 tabled by Fran?oise Castex, Zuzana Roithov?, Alexander Alvaro, Stavros Lambrinidis which calls for greater transparency of the ACTA process. The European Commission, the United States and eleven other countries have secretly negotiated the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) for over two years. ACTA is a global multilateral agreement that seeks to establish international standards to tackle the counterfeiting of goods, generic medicines and online copyright infringement. I am worried, however that it will also threaten fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression, introduce harsh punishments and makes the access to generic medicines more difficult. Although I welcome the recent release of the draft text, I strongly believe that the whole process needs to be more transparent. The positions of individual countries remain in the dark, so European citizens still don't know who is pushing for the most severe measures such as the three strikes provision which could disconnect citizens from the internet. Among other things Written Declaration 12/2010 - calls on the European Commission to immediately release all ACTA related documents - states that ACTA should not limit judicial due process or weaken fundamental rights and data protection - emphasises that Internet Service Providers should not be liable for the data they transmit - states that the access to generic medicines should not be impeded In March MEPs overwhelmingly approved a common resolution opposing the ACTA negotiations process. By signing Written Declaration 12/2010 you ensure that the call for transparency remains a top priority and put pressure on the European Commission to bring up the issue at the next ACTA round in Switzerland. Thanks very much. Yours sincerely,
Greg Collins
HORSHAM
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Thanks for taking an interest. Keep it clean legal decent honest and truthful and who knows I may even post it.