Text tabled : A7-0204/2012

  Vilja Savisaar-Toomast (ALDE), in writing. − (ET) I voted against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) today, for several reasons. Firstly, no additional and serious efforts were made before the ACTA negotiations to thoroughly consult with all of the stakeholders and take their opinions into consideration. In addition, I cannot support administrative conduct that does not observe the European Union’s strict requirements regarding transparency and good governance. Secondly, it does not measure up to the principle of legal clarity, because it leaves great opportunities for interpretation, and as a result the terms and conditions of the agreement may differ greatly from one country to another. At the same time, some clauses of the agreement seek to regulate domestic matters to an excessive degree. Thirdly, in the area of Internet availability, this is a fundamental right, and Internet service providers should not have control over the Internet. Internet freedom must be guaranteed, and I certainly do not approve of any gathering and saving of customer data and activity habits by Internet service providers. While I am indeed against all manner of piracy and theft of intellectual property and recognise that there are now many problems in this area, this agreement is unfortunately not something that would improve the situation, but would indeed make it worse.