WRITTEN QUESTION E-1385/03

by Claude Moraes (PSE) to the Commission

(15 April 2003)

Subject: Combating the alarming rise in counterfeited and pirated goods

How is the Commission promoting better cross-border cooperation between law enforcement authorities in the Member States, in addition to strengthening the role of Europol in combating the alarming rise in counterfeited and pirated goods, as revealed by recent Commission statistics, which are costing jobs across the EU?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(19 June 2003)

Intellectual property violations committed on a large scale such as counterfeiting and products piracy pose a major challenge to the economy and all stakeholders including consumers in the fight against organised crime. They affect a broad variety of sectors and are committed increasingly in the framework of organised crime. Counterfeiting and piracy are an international phenomenon that must be tackled as such.

The Commission adopted in January 2003 a proposal for a Directive(1) aimed at harmonising sanctions and remedies available to improving the protection of intellectual property right holders upon the infringement of their intellectual property rights and a proposal for a Regulation aimed at improving the fight against the import of counterfeited goods into the Union (The recent statistics published by the Commission show an increase of 900 % -between 1998 and 2001- on the number of retained counterfeited articles by the Members States customs authorities).

Both these instruments also include provisions aimed at fostering cooperation among the competent national authorities.

On 30 January 2003 the Commission organised a meeting on the fight against piracy and counterfeiting in the context of the Forum on Organised Crime Prevention.

The meeting was attended by about a hundred experts and provided the opportunity for a constructive dialogue between representatives of business, national judicial authorities, the police, customs, and European and international organisations.

The conclusions of this meeting underpinned the importance to harmonise criminal legislation in the Union as regards counterfeiting and to reach an effective good police and judicial cooperation, in particular where organised crime is involved. In follow-up to the Forum meeting on 30 January 2003, the Commission is working on a text to approximate penal sanctions at Union level and to improve cross-border cooperation between competent authorities in the Member States. In addition, Member States should ensure that there is a good coordination between the various services with powers in the fight against counterfeiting, for example by establishing national specialist centralised services staffed by both police and customs officers. Public-private partnerships should be established to help prevent and fight against counterfeiting. Training programmes for judicial authorities and enforcement services should be intensified.

The Commission also organises further meetings in view of improving the fight against counterfeiting and product piracy, maintains close working relations with Europol and the Member States and provides sector representation in this field.

(1) COM(2003) 46 final.