WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3757/98 by José GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL to the Commission. Counterfeiting and piracy
Date: 1998-12-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: administrative cooperation, economic consequence, industrial counterfeiting, intellectual property, market supervision, piracy, private sector, restriction on competition, right to justice, single market

C 297/100

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

15.10.1999

(1999/C 297/134)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3756/98

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission

(11 December 1998)

Subject: Counterfeiting and piracy

On 22 October 1998 the Commission announced the publication of a Green Paper on combating counter-
feiting and piracy in the single market, with which it launched wide-ranging consultations on the matter with
interested parties in the Member States.

The Green Paper pursues four lines of thought: a) support for monitoring activities by the private sector; b) the
legal protection of authenticating and security devices; c) an assessment of the sanctions and other means
capable of ensuring that intellectual property rights are enforced; and d) the establishment of appropriate
administrative cooperation between the Member States’ competent authorities.

In the Commission’s opinion, what effect may the damage suffered by undertakings have as regards
investment?

(1999/C 297/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3757/98

by José García-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission

(11 December 1998)

Subject: Counterfeiting and piracy

On 22 October 1998 the Commission announced the publication of a Green Paper on combating counter-
feiting and piracy in the single market, with which it launched wide-ranging consultations on the matter with
interested parties in the Member States.

The Green Paper pursues four lines of thought: a) support for monitoring activities by the private sector; b) the
legal protection of authenticating and security devices; c) an assessment of the sanctions and other means
capable of ensuring that intellectual property rights are enforced; and d) the establishment of appropriate
administrative cooperation between the Member States’ competent authorities.

In the Commission’s opinion, what effect may the damage suffered by undertakings have as regards
employment?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-3756/98 and E-3757/98
given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 1999)

Counterfeiting and piracy have harmful social and economic effects on both enterprises and economies.
Innovative and creative enterprises are obviously the first to suffer. One need only consider the two aspects
mentioned by the Honourable Member 2 investment and employment 2 to see that the damage done to
enterprises can sometimes be substantial.

With regard to investment, enterprises, and innovative enterprises in particular, often invest substantial sums
of money in research, marketing and advertising for the development and commercialisation of new products.
Counterfeiters reap the benefits of this investment without having to bear the costs, with the result that
counterfeit products can be sold at a lower price than genuine products. The enterprises thus find themselves
at a competitive disadvantage. If, therefore, these enterprises are unable to gain a return on their investment,
they are likely either to cut back on the amount they invest or switch their investment to countries where they
can be assured that their intellectual property rights are given effective protection.

When it comes employment, enterprises which fall victim to counterfeit activities often find themselves in
direct competition with the counterfeiters, even if the counterfeit products are generally of inferior quality. As
a result, they lose out on sales opportunities and their market shares dwindle. In addition, consumers who have
been deceived by counterfeit products when they thought they were buying the genuine article sometimes
then steer clear of such products altogether. The resulting loss of custom for these enterprises then has direct
repercussions on the numbers they employ.