Intellectual Property Protection in the EU External Trade Policy

Under negotiations since 2006, the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, (ACTA), is a plurilateral agreement which envisages the establishment of stricter standards for the transnational and domestic enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). The European Union, renowned IP exporter, was among the several signatories in October 2011; yet the European Parliament (EP) blatantly refused to ratify the treaty in July 2012. This work wishes to ascertain the reasons that lead the EP to exercise its new co-decision prerogative for the first time since the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. The research, against the backdrop of Olson’s logic of collective action, is based on the analysis of a series of factors, endogenous and exogenous to the European institutions: namely, the formation of a parliamentary opposition to the agreement and the parallel emergence of extra-parliamentary mobilization movements throughout Europe. In addition, other factors were considered, such as the weight of European inter-institutional dynamics and that of public opinion.