A European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy

Whereas legislation on the protection of property rights is mostly a European competence, the provision of that protection has so far almost always been left to national authorities.

The aim of the current proposal for a Regulation is to enlarge the sphere of competence of the EU's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), which is meant to serve as an observatory on infringements of intellectual property rights and boost cooperation between national authorities.

The Greens believe that the debate on intellectual property rights is still evolving and that an observatory focussing solely on infringements of intellectual property rights does not adequately mirror the complex situation regarding these rights in the EU today.

Instead, we argued in favour of an EU observatory on intellectual property rights that would also promote industrial and cultural innovation.

In addition, we pressed for a transparent method for evaluating copyright infringements, ad-hoc meetings that include experts and representatives of civil society, and the observation and promotion of new business models favouring access to creative content.

The Greens succeeded in gaining majority support for transparent evaluations of copyright infringements, for the inclusion of experts and representatives of civil society in deliberative procedures and for the monitoring of new business models that facilitate access to creative content.

These compromises were enough for our group to abstain from voting on the report, rather than voting against it.

The Greens were unable to secure majority support for a more open and balanced position on intellectual property rights in the EU.

We fear that large companies will end up using the proposed observatory to prevent competitors from entering the market.

We will also closely monitor whether it actually provides useful services for citizens.