European Commission Admits It Plans To Put 'Corporate Christmas List' Of IP Demands Into TAFTA/TTIP
from the acta's-back dept
A few months ago, we quoted the EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht, who is responsible for handling the TAFTA/TTIP negotiations on the European side, as saying:
“ACTA, one of the nails in my coffin. I’m not going to reopen that discussion. Really, I mean, I am not a masochist. I’m not planning to do that.
If the Commission advances new basic legislation, which I think she should, we will revisit the question, but I’m not going to do this by the back door”.
Well, either that was just more misdirection, or he’s not in control of his staff. Because we learn from a stunning report of a little-publicized meeting between corporate lobbyists and the EU’s negotiator on intellectual monopolies, Pedro Velasco Martins, that putting many of the worst features of ACTA into TAFTA/TTIP is precisely what the European Commission has planned.
Here’s the background:
Taking place at the American Chamber of Commerce offices in Brussels, the purpose of the two hour exchange was to strategize between businesses and the Commission in order to make sure that the maximum level of new IP restrictions will be written into the treaty. Present at the meeting were representatives from a range of the very largest multinational corporations. Among these were TimeWarner, Microsoft, Ford, Eli Lilly, AbbVie (pharmaceutical, formerly Abbott) and the luxury conglomerate LMVH. The participant list also included representatives from Nike, Dow, Pfizer, GE, BSA and Disney – among others. Also present was Patrice Pellegrino from OHIM [Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market], the EU/Commission agency responsible for trade marks in the EU.
As you will notice, most of those companies are from the US. Nothing wrong that, of course, except when you consider the following:
Controversially, the supposedly neutral Commission negotiator and the OHIM representative not only defined themselves as allies with the businesses lobbyists. They went far beyond this and started to instruct the representatives in detail on how they should campaign to “educate” the public in order to maximise their outcome in terms of industry monopoly rights. In particular, concerns from elected representatives, such as the European Parliament — as well as civil society criticisms about ever increasing intellectual property rights — were to be kept out of the public debate.
Here’s what the European Commission really wants to see in TAFTA/TTIP:
Commission negotiator Velasco Martins revealed the existence of a secret list of corporate demands for new intellectual property rights in the transatlantic treaty. Previously — towards the public and the Parliament — the Commission has created the impression that intellectual property rights will be downplayed. The only IP right mentioned has been geographical indications, a minor issue which few are concerned about. In reality, the Commission now revealed that they have received “quite a Christmas list of items” on IP from corporate lobbyists and that they are working to implement this list. The list has already been discussed with the US in several meetings, in person as well as online.
The Christmas list covers almost every major intellectual property right. On patents, industry had shown “quite an interest” especially on the procedures around the granting of new patents. On copyrights the industry wants to have the “same level of protection” in the US and EU; in reality this always means harmonization up which results in more restrictions for the general public. On plant variety rights the pharma sector has lobbied for “higher levels” of protection. On trademarks the corporate lobbyists had made classification-related requests to the Commission. Additionally there had been a lot of interest in trade secrets.
There’s also stuff from our old friend ACTA — stricter enforcement:
According to the negotiator, the most repeated request on the Christmas list was in “enforcement”. Concerning this, companies had made requests to “improve and formalize” as well as for the authorities to “make statements”. The Commission negotiator said that although joint ‘enforcement statements’ do not constitute “classical trade agreement language” — a euphemism for things that do not belong in trade agreements — the Commission still looks forward to “working in this area”.
That seems to go against explicit promises made earlier by the European Commission:
Since the beginning of the TTIP negotiating process, it is very clear that the eventual agreement on intellectual property rights will not include elements that were controversial in the context of ACTA. For example, the ACTA provisions on IPR enforcement in the digital environment (ACTA articles 27.2 to 27.4) will not be part of the negotiations. Neither will ACTA’s provisions on criminal sanctions.
The report of the meeting contains many other fascinating insights into the real thinking of the European Commission. For example, apparently there is some relief that people are focusing on the horrors of corporate sovereignty, since that has allowed work on the “corporate Christmas list” to proceed unnoticed. There was also a warning that it is probably only a matter of time before details get out:
“Lots of people are waiting for the first slip, the first leak”
In the wake of the good things that have already flowed from Edward Snowden’s leaks, and the enhanced status of whistleblowers today, that seems increasingly likely to happen. Finally, there was a useful hint of how the European Commission is going to attempt to justify bringing back ACTA in TAFTA/TTIP:
A recurring theme was that the public needs to be re-educated to understand the value of industry monopoly rights.
According to Pellegrino, the key to doing this is a number of pro-IP reports that will or have been released by OHIM.
One recent report was highlighted. It claims that every fourth job in the EU only exists because of intellectual property regulations.
That would presumably be this report, which claims ridiculously that:
IPR-intensive industries contribute
26% of employment and
39% of GDP in the EU
Techdirt wrote about this back in October, where we pointed out that it obtains these unrealistically high figures by including a whole range of industries that use things like copyright and patents only in the most limited and tangential way. Expect to see more of these exaggerated claims, based on similarly shoddy methodologies, appearing in the next few months.
That OHIM is putting out such propaganda isn’t perhaps too surprising — it’s just a form marketing for its activities. But what is shocking is that an OHIM representative, along with the most senior EU negotiator for intellectual monopolies, should be offering detailed advice to US companies on how to subvert the TAFTA/TTIP negotiations by trying to keep the dissenting views of Members of the European Parliament and EU civic groups out of the debate. That’s a direct assault on fair and open discourse, and ultimately undermines European democracy at a time when many are calling into question the entire idea of the European Union.
At the very least, the European Commission should set up a formal inquiry into what happened at this meeting, to make sure such blatant favoritism is avoided in future. If it doesn’t, we’ll know definitively that not only is it happy to see corporates on both sides of the Atlantic given preferential treatment during TAFTA/TTIP, but that it really doesn’t care who knows. Meanwhile, those who took to the streets of Europe to fight off ACTA last year may want to start getting their boots ready.
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Filed Under: acta, copyright, karel de gucht, patents, pedro velasco martins, tafta, trade agreements, treaty, ttip
Companies: abbvie, bsa, disney, dow, eli lilly, ford, ge, lvmh, microsoft, nike, pfizer, time warner, us chamber of commerce
Comments on “European Commission Admits It Plans To Put 'Corporate Christmas List' Of IP Demands Into TAFTA/TTIP”
That WAS just more misdirection.
“For example, apparently there is some relief that people are focusing on the horrors of corporate sovereignty, since that has allowed work on the “corporate Christmas list” to proceed unnoticed.” — Yeah, but HERE at Techdirt, you keep ignoring the major horrors to instead focus on rather minor points of expanding IP. — Which I’m NOT for, kids. — It’s just the usual whipsaw attack: they load it up with PLENTY of bad so that whatever gets passed is definitely pro-corporate, just not as much as wanted.
Now, I keep looking for explicit condemnation of the whole TPP and its globalist corporatist power grab, but yet again you don’t do that here. Neither did Mike yesterday: “Hidden Within The TPP: The RIAA’s Secret Plan To Screw Musicians Out Of Their Rights”, attacking his usual windmill while apparently fine with the rest of TPP. So could you for once state unequivocally that you oppose TPP and the globabl corporatism behind it? Or are we just supposed to assume that you oppose the whole of it without explicit mention of its horrors or the corporations?
Re: That WAS just more misdirection.
Can you?
So Blue, Is it all reading that you have problems with, or is it just the comprehension part.
Everyone knows that you are on the low end of the IQ spectrum, You know it, we know it.
I would suggest you actually try reading the articles, not just the headlines, but i realise that you wont comprehend as long as Mike keeps on using multi-syllable words.
Depressing news. EU Commission bends over backwards to please the US. Wasn’t it all these “free-trade” deals that got us into this mess in the first place?
Thank goodness people got out signed petitions against ACTA. If not for peaceful protest, those same provisions could be sneaking into new trade agreements.
What's the saying?
Maximalists only have to be successful once, we have to be successful every time.
Re: What's the saying?
Which means being as willing to fight this crap as they are. We fought the law last time, and the European people won. I’m ready to go again when the time comes. I’m just waiting for the signal to go, but I suppose I can start early by drawing my MEP’s attention to this. He voted against ACTA, after all. I presume the Pirates are busy letting their allies in the Greens and Liberals know.
I still can’t believe de Gucht would sell us all out like that. How much does it take to corrupt our so-called representative – 30 pieces of silver?
Re-education…
Hmm… Where have I heard that before?
Oh yes, every dystopian story ever written.
Re: Re:
Re-eductaion is and has been used by every authoritarian government in history, and education has been used to justify every crime against the person that exists, as a means of teaching others.
Re: Re: Re:
The only difference between the Soviet Union of the 20th Century and The West of the 21st century: the number of channels on TV.
Everything else is the same: political prisoners serving more time than murderers and rapists (and being treated more harshly), mainstream media being government propaganda, alternate media clamped down on, disregard for privacy, disarming citizens of guns (already happened in much of Europe, with the US trying to do the same), and forcing the populace to unlearn their values or die.
They haven’t gotten to the genocides by the millions, but they’re getting closer.
If the Commission advances new basic legislation, which I think she should, we will revisit the question, but I’m not going to do this by the back door”.
by the back door is exactly how it’ll be done ..so bend over and take it
Why hasn’t the EU Parliament reshuffled the EU Commission yet? Is that going to happen after new elections anyway, or does the current commission get to stay in place? The EU Commission seems to be a lot more corrupt than the Parliament in whole.
We want everyone’s money and nothing else, see one gift we’re not greedy.
Votes matter
The EP election is comming up in the spring of 2014. I suggest you vote for the Pirate party or one of the other parties in the Greens/EFA group.
Re: Votes matter
What rok says. Every vote counts, so get out there, my fellow Europeans, and vote. Talk to your neighbours and ask if they’re going to vote in the MEP elections. Ask them if they want this, then tell them about the Pirates and Greens/EFAs. Then say, “It’s none of my business who you vote for, but please vote for someone who will put a stop to this. We fought off one bad treaty before, and we can do it again.”
It does work, and I know because I’ve done it.