The vote on the Draft Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, originally foreseen for the meeting of the Judicial Affairs Committee of the European Parliament last Monday, has been postponed again. The Rapporteur, Janelly Fourtou (Conservative, France) had to give in to a request for delay supported by a majority composed of Social Democrats, Liberals, Greens and the Left. They argued more discussion was necessary to be able to understand the problems in connection with the Directive.

The next date scheduled for the vote in committee is 27 November, in Brussels. It is unlikely that there will be a vote in the Plenary of the European Parliament before the end of the year, because the EU Council has already presented an alternative version of the Directive, which will inevitably lead to more discussions before the report can be voted in Plenary.

Additionally, it seems, the Italian Presidency, whose term ends at the end of the year, is not particularly keen on dealing with the issue. The software industry seems to have higher expectations of the upcoming Irish Presidency, and is already lobbying heavily in order to have the Directive passed before the enlargement of the European Union by the middle of next year.

Mrs. Fourtou's Compromise Amendments
http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/juri/20031104/511548EN....

(Contribution by Andreas Dietl, EDRI EU affairs director)