EU parliament rejects Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

(AGI) Strasbourg- The EU parliament has voted against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement with 478 nays, 39 yays and 165 abstaining and it will therefore not become law. This is the first time the Strasbourg parliament has exercised its new rights concerning international trade agreements, also rejecting the idea that the vote be postponed while awaiting a ruling from the E.U. Court of Justice. The E.U. Commission has asked the Court to rule on the treaty’s compatibility with European law in negotiations between the EU and the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland . The ACTA is addressed at strengthening intellectual copyrights. In the course of the debate parliament received and anti-ACTA petition signed by 2.8 million citizens from all over the world.