Today, La Quadrature du Net sent a letter to the Members of the European Parliament who have yet to sign the Written Declaration 12 about the ongoing ACTA negotiations.
The list of the MEPs who have and haven’t already signed WD12 is available here, along with statistical data.
You can participate by contacting MEPs to urge them to sign WD12, using tips from our dedicated campaign page.
Letter to the Members of the European Parliament
Dear Member of the European Parliament,
Two weeks ago, the Parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution [1] on the transparency and state of play of the ACTA negotiations. The resolution asserted the Parliament’s prerogatives in the negotiations of this international agreement aimed at enforcing copyright, patents and trademarks worldwide.
Through signing Written Declaration 12 [2], you now have the opportunity to go one step further by establishing clear “red lines” not to be crossed by EU negotiators regarding the very content of the agreement. This declaration challenges some of the most worrying aspects of ACTA by addressing the right to a fair judicial process, the surveillance of the Internet and the liability of technical intermediaries as well as other issues, such as access to medicines in developing countries.
Recent developments prove that this declaration is urgently needed. Last Monday, during a stakeholders meeting regarding ACTA, Luc Devigne, the negotiator of the Commission, dismissed the Parliament’s demand to limit the negotiations to “counterfeiting”. Such a dismissal of the EU institutional balance is worrying, and calls for further clarification from the Parliament. Written Declaration 12 perfectly serves this purpose.
We count on you to preserve democratic processes and ensure that citizens’ rights and freedoms will be protected.
Naturally, we remain available for any question you may have.
La Quadrature du Net.