The ACTA related vote in the European Parliament took place earlier today
A majority in the European Parliament just voted in favor of a resolution saying that it
”regrets that China has not taken part in the negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)”
Although this is not quite the same as voting yes to the ACTA agreement as such, it is a very alarming signal that there may in fact be a majority to say yes to ACTA in the European Parliament, despite all statements about ”ACTA being dead” that have been circulating in the press and elsewhere.
The vote was a separate vote on a part of a bigger resolution with the title ”EU and China: Unbalanced Trade?”. The mention of ACTA is in Article 15 of the resolution.
That the whole resolution was adopted is one thing, since it contained lots of other things, and members of the European Parliament (MEPs) may have liked the other things enough to vote in favor of the resolution for that reason.
But the alarming thing is that the separate vote on the ACTA sentence was carried. (I of course voted against.)
This is a wake-up call for all net activists who have gotten the impression that we have already won ACTA. This is absolutely not true. The battle is still going on, and after today’s vote I feel very concerned indeed.
Next week a number of committees in the European Parliament will be voting on opinions on ACTA. These votes are not decisive in themselves, but will be steps on the way towards the eventual acceptance or rejection of ACTA.
Contact your MEPs now, and remind them about the reasons for rejecting ACTA. This is absolutely urgent.
The final outcome of ACTA hangs in the balance right now.
Christian Engström, former Member of the European Parliament 2009-2014 for Piratpartiet, Sweden
Christian Engström, Pirat 
Det är alltid rätt att tala med sina EU-parlamentariker.
Dock uppfattar jag ändå situationen så att det är en sak att beklaga att Kina inte deltar i ACTA. Det är en helt annan sak att det faktum att Kina inte är med ju faktiskt är ett skäl att rösta nej till ACTA. Detta kan mycket väl vara en väldigt viktigt uttalande från ett flertal ledamöter som kanske sen kommer att rösta nej till ACTA.
Kommentar av Johan Tjäder — 23 maj 2012 @ 12:34
[…] kop van zijn blogpost: ”EU Parliament Majority Expresses Support for […]
Pingback av ACTA update: piraat slaat (vals) alarm « Brusseleir — 23 maj 2012 @ 12:43
ACTA är i stora delar värdelöst för alla de väsentliga detaljer som kan kallas ”positiva” med avtalet – skyddet gentemot fuskprodukter exempelvis – utan att ha BRIC ombord.
Vilket innebär att utan BRIC blir avtalet odelat negativt i helhet.
Där finns det förvisso möjlighet att klaga. dock kan man konstatera att Kina, Brasilien, Indien och Ryssland ALDRIG kommer att gå med på att ens förhandla om ett avtal vars ursprung ligger i att den ryska, indiska, brasilianska och kinesiska exportmarknaden konkurrerar ”för” bra med USA och EU.
Kommentar av Scary Devil Monastery — 23 maj 2012 @ 14:50
[…] Christian Engström (Blog) […]
Pingback av Flertal i EU-Parlamentet vil gerne have indført ACTA | GearNYT — 23 maj 2012 @ 15:06
Does it still surprise someone that MEPs payed from taxpayers’ money seem to be ready to vote against the interests of the taxpayers, for interests of corporations, nemely tobacco industry? Against all statistics, ressearch and stuff? Must be that the others pay more.
Kommentar av Jarda — 23 maj 2012 @ 15:35
Thank you for your efforts, you are a lighthouse to many that whant to participate in change, to build a better future instead of trying to revive past glories. Thank you very much from Spain
Kommentar av carlos — 23 maj 2012 @ 18:05
Since 2007 i’ve been following this and since then i’ve been telling people and spreading information as much as possible and doing as much as possible. Thank you for letting us know about this Christian. Without this kind of information it wouldn’t be possible to fight this thing which stinks as hell, like most these things to. Like you said, it’s not exactly a ‘yes’ vote to this but still gives chills up my spine, not to mention the anger build up inside my chest. Forums, blogs, emails, writing to MEP’s, etc, etc… that’s what i’ve been doing since 2007. Since 2008 i’ve been very much, let’s say, active about this and since 2010… well… i think you can guess the rest. Here, in Portugal, they signed it without any participation from the public (no wonder) or even the national assembly. The political parties that have been most vocal about this in the last few months are the communist party (Partido Comunista Português – PCP), the left block (Bloco de Esquerda – BE) and the greens (Os Verdes), in that order. Social media doesn’t talk about this, at least not that i could see and what i did see didn’t say much (no wonder, again). The only one that replied to this date were the communists (PCP) and the others, i sure hope they are reading this or read what i’ve been sending them. As for a pirate party here, well, we do have a movement (MPPP – Movimento Partido Pirata Português – partidopiratapt.eu) but they don’t have enough signatures to become a political force nor i think there is enough people trying to do it. Anyway, i could go on forever but i can’t fill up the comment box with this. Sorry about that. Once again, thank you for the information you’ve been posting. The ones that are not in english i’ve been using Google Translate since i can’t ‘capice’ a thing about Swedish.
Kommentar av Pedro Miguel — 23 maj 2012 @ 21:45
Hello, thank you for posting this information. I’ve been gathering information on the position of UK MEPs for ORG – do you know how they voted? Was this a roll-call vote? Are the details available online?
Kommentar av Martin Keegan (@mk270) — 24 maj 2012 @ 0:47
[…] explica el eurodiputado pirata Christian Engström: la aprobación de una resolución que lamenta que China no haya participado en las negociaciones […]
Pingback av El Parlamento Europeo lamenta que China no haya participado en las negociaciones del ACTA — 24 maj 2012 @ 8:29
@Martin Keegan,
It was not a roll call vote, so there is no way to find out how individual members voted. (Which I think is a disgrace, all votes ought to be roll call votes so that citizens can check what their MEPs are doing, but that’s another issue.)
Anyway, in this case the important thing is how MEPs will vote in the different committees next week, and in the final vote in plenary scheduled for July, so focus on that when you are contacting MEPs.
Kommentar av Christian Engström — 24 maj 2012 @ 8:41
[…] den att-satsen genomgick en separat votering så fick den stöd i Parlamentet. Christian Engström har fler detaljer för den intresserade. Kanske skall man inte dra för stora växlar på det här, EU-Parlamentet […]
Pingback av ACTA-bloggen » Tufft läge i EP – nästa vecka röstar flera utskott om ACTA — 24 maj 2012 @ 15:11
[…] yet… the EU Parliament is already trying to put pressure on China to sign on to ACTA. Yes, the same EU Parliament that has been moving closer and closer to rejecting ACTA itself has […]
Pingback av EU Parliament Wants China To Join ACTA, Even As It May Reject It? » SoicalPost — 27 maj 2012 @ 0:05
[…] del partido pirata sueco, Christian Engström sugirió el pasado jueves justamente lo contrario, en su blog: A majority in the European Parliament just vote in favor of a resolution saying that […]
Pingback av ¿Una mayoría del Europarlamento a favor de ACTA? | Versvs — 27 maj 2012 @ 19:26
[…] Christian Engström: “Kampen mot ACTA är inte över!” Amelia Andersdotter: “Lobbyn har bytt taktik angående […]
Pingback av Nyhetsbrev – 120528 | Anna Troberg — 28 maj 2012 @ 16:56
[…] yet… the EU Parliament is already trying to put pressure on China to sign on to ACTA. Yes, the same EU Parliament that has been moving closer and closer to rejecting ACTA itself has […]
Pingback av EU Parliament Wants China To Join ACTA, Even As It May Reject It? | Gas Rebate Ticket — 29 maj 2012 @ 21:04
STOP ACTA!!!
Kommentar av Mary — 30 maj 2012 @ 18:21
[…] Christian Engström, Pirate MEP: EU Parliament Majority Expresses Support for ACTA (christianengstrom.wordpress.com) […]
Pingback av ACTA rejected by EU Parliament committees in crucial vote — RT « Ye Olde Soapbox — 31 maj 2012 @ 16:04
Reblogged this on SunnyRomy.
Kommentar av sunnyromy — 1 juni 2012 @ 11:37
[…] lo hace a favor de los dos partidos que han arruinado Grecia. Como explica el eurodiputado pirata Christian Engström: la aprobación de una resolución que lamenta que China no haya participado en las negociaciones […]
Pingback av El Parlamento Europeo lamenta que China no haya participado en las negociaciones del ACTA — 2 juni 2012 @ 15:10
Am 9. Juni findet ein revolutionärer Kongress in Leipzig statt. Es geht um ein neues Geldsystem, verbunden mit dem Bedingungslosen Grundeinkommen…www.lust-auf-neues-geld.de Liebe Grüße aus Wuppertal von Brigitte Breiter-Schaefer Freischaffende Künstlerin
Kommentar av Brigitte Breiter-Schaefer — 5 juni 2012 @ 0:35
[…] Christian Engström, Pirate MEP: EU Parliament Majority Expresses Support for ACTA(christianengstrom.wordpress.com) […]
Pingback av Stop ACTA | Picking Daisies — 8 juni 2012 @ 12:47
[…] Christian Engström, Pirate MEP: EU Parliament Majority Expresses Support for ACTA (christianengstrom.wordpress.com) […]
Pingback av ACTA Not Dead Yet: Supporters Make Final Push For EU Approval, May Seek Secret Ballot « News Worldwide — 18 juni 2012 @ 22:00
[…] Christian Engström: “Kampen mot ACTA är inte över!” Amelia Andersdotter: “Lobbyn har bytt taktik angående […]
Pingback av Nyhetsbrev 2012-05-28 « Ledningsbloggen — 27 juni 2012 @ 21:12
[…] in another European Parliament vote recently, a majority of the Europarliament appeared to vote in favor of ACTA. So the worst mistake we can make right now is to think that this is all over, that ACTA is […]
Pingback av The Game of ACTA: Mid-Battle Analysis, Next Actions - Falkvinge on Infopolicy — 1 juli 2012 @ 6:09
[…] que en otro voto reciente del Parlamento Europeo, la mayoría del Europarlamento aparentó votar a favor de ACTA. Por lo tanto, el peor error que podemos cometer ahora mismo es pensar que todo ha […]
Pingback av El Juego de ACTA: Análisis a Mitad de la Batalla, Próximas Acciones - Falkvinge sobre Infopolítica — 1 juli 2012 @ 8:22