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"This is a resolution by a virtually unanimous parliament, but it is not formally binding for the Commission. If they want to ignore us, they technically can."

"This is a resolution by a virtually unanimous parliament, but it is not formally binding for the Commission. If they want to ignore us, they technically can." Can someone please help me understand "who" this ACTA commission is and under what government(s) authority it is operating? Its all very mysterious, reminds me of the WTO. Throughout the 90s, you'd heard news about WTO meets with zero explanation as to who there were and under what authority they operated.

tome 17y ago
I presume he means the European Commission: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission
- Luc 17y ago
  Yes. The new trade commissioner, by the way, is in favour of more openness, and opposed to the three strikes rule. E.g. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,40057434,00.htm http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,40057434... "We are not supporting and will not accept that an eventual Acta agreement creates an obligation to disconnect people from the internet because of illegal downloads"
deleted 17y ago
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henrikschroder 17y ago
There's three major bodies in EU: the Commission, the Council, and the Parliament. The European Parliament is directly elected by the people, has 736 members, and each member is part of one of (currently) seven groups usually depending on which group is closest politically to their actual political party in the home country. The biggest groups are the conservatives, the social democrats, liberals, greens and christian democrats. Then you have the council of ministers which consists of the executive branches of all member states, which makes it sort of elected by the people. The council has legislative power together with the parliament, but no EU-wide executive power, since their actual job is to govern their own countries. They are also responsible for implementing EU directives locally. Finally you have the European Commission which is the EU-wide executive branch. Each country's executive branch appoints one commissioner each, which makes them twice removed from being elected (and of course criticized for it). They don't have legislative power, but they can suggest legislation for the parliament to vote on. It is this body that is participating in the ACTA negotiations on behalf of the EU member nations, so that each country's executive branch doesn't have to.
- narag 17y ago
  In other words: the parlament has not much power. We've seen this too many times. I've followed how other issues like the three strikes laws and software patents have been managed and it's disheartening. Even when the parlament voted massively against, the Commission and the lobbies seem to work this way around every time :-(

tome 17y ago

I presume he means the European Commission: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission

Luc 17y ago
Yes. The new trade commissioner, by the way, is in favour of more openness, and opposed to the three strikes rule. E.g. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,40057434,00.htm http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,40057434... "We are not supporting and will not accept that an eventual Acta agreement creates an obligation to disconnect people from the internet because of illegal downloads"

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

henrikschroder 17y ago

There's three major bodies in EU: the Commission, the Council, and the Parliament. The European Parliament is directly elected by the people, has 736 members, and each member is part of one of (currently) seven groups usually depending on which group is closest politically to their actual political party in the home country. The biggest groups are the conservatives, the social democrats, liberals, greens and christian democrats. Then you have the council of ministers which consists of the executive branches of all member states, which makes it sort of elected by the people. The council has legislative power together with the parliament, but no EU-wide executive power, since their actual job is to govern their own countries. They are also responsible for implementing EU directives locally. Finally you have the European Commission which is the EU-wide executive branch. Each country's executive branch appoints one commissioner each, which makes them twice removed from being elected (and of course criticized for it). They don't have legislative power, but they can suggest legislation for the parliament to vote on. It is this body that is participating in the ACTA negotiations on behalf of the EU member nations, so that each country's executive branch doesn't have to.

narag 17y ago
In other words: the parlament has not much power. We've seen this too many times. I've followed how other issues like the three strikes laws and software patents have been managed and it's disheartening. Even when the parlament voted massively against, the Commission and the lobbies seem to work this way around every time :-(