ACTA text due for release today:
Overall, therefore, there was a general sense from this session that negotiations have now advanced to a point where making a draft text available to the public will help the process of reaching a final agreement. For that reason, and based on the specific momentum coming out of this meeting, participants have reached unanimous agreement that the time is right for making available to the public the consolidated text coming out of these discussions, which will reflect the substantial progress made at this round.
It is intended to release this on Wednesday 21 April.
The EU parliament are something like the House of Lords — you don’t tend to pay them much attention, or really trust them, but every now and again they come through and Do The Right Thing when the rest of the Powers That Be are in thrall to some ridiculous lobbyist-enhanced monstrosity.
Last week is one of those cases: the European Parliament has passed a resolution thoroughly condemning the secrecy of the ACTA negotiation process, in terms that are, compared to the normal EU bureacratese, pretty fierce:
2. Expresses its concern over the lack of a transparent process in the conduct of the ACTA
negotiations, a state of affairs at odds with the letter and spirit of the TFEU; is deeply concerned
that no legal base was established before the start of the ACTA negotiations and that
parliamentary approval for the negotiating mandate was not sought;