The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in cooperation with IBBT-SMIT, kindly invites you to attend the upcoming Policy Forum on March 6th with:

Mr Carl Schlyter, Member of the European Parliament

Mr Benoît Lory, Policy Officer at the European Commission - DG Trade

Mr Joe McNamee, Advocacy Coordinator at EDRI - European Digital Rights

Mr Burak Özgen, Senior Legal Advisor at GESAC - European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) deals with the international coordination of intellectual property rights enforcement. On January 26th, 2012, the EU and twenty-two of its member states signed the trade agreement. For the European Union to ratify ACTA, however, consent is needed from the European Parliament. MEP Kader Arif resigned as European Parliament rapporteur of the trade agreement and argued that the ACTA negotiations lack transparency. Across Europe there have been waves of protest by citizens who see ACTA as promoting Internet censorship and monitoring, whereas supporters of ACTA have contended that large-scale infringements of intellectual property rights threaten the competitiveness of our economy. In this Policy Forum, four experts will debate ACTA and the implications of ratification by the EU. There will also be an opportunity for questions from the audience.