Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-15-Speech-3-561-000"
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"en.20120215.26.3-561-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to thank you, Ms Mazzoni, for giving me the opportunity to speak to Parliament about the issue of the exception to copyright rules for visually impaired people, and about current international discussions. As you know, the European Union is determined, by its very values, to advance the rights of people with disabilities and I have had personal discussions, Ms Mazzoni, with all those organisations which deal, in particular, with visual impairment.
On the occasion of the last meeting of WIPO, the European Union and its Member States asked for open discussions to be held on the substance of the text which had to be improved rapidly. Our position on the improvements to be made was communicated in writing and orally to our partners and to interested parties completely transparently. We would thus encourage our partners and all parties to the discussions to get to the heart of the matter as quickly as possible.
As it is a subject, Ms Mazzoni, ladies and gentlemen, in which I am interested and personally involved, as are associations for visually impaired people, I intend to make contact and to talk very shortly with all the governments of the European Union to make more rapid progress and home in on a concrete solution so as to resolve this issue along the lines called for in your question.
It is vital that the full participation of people with disabilities in social, cultural and economic life becomes a genuine reality in our modern democratic societies. The European Commission has intervened, in particular – as you pointed out – with the 2010-2020 disability strategy. We support the full and effective recognition of the rights of these people with disabilities, as recognised, in particular, by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and by the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
That is the approach that we also uphold in current discussions within the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) concerning the rights of visually impaired people to which your question indeed refers.
I should like, ladies and gentlemen, to clarify things and be more specific. One element of the debate relates to the need for, and usefulness of, a legally binding international legal instrument on exceptions to copyright rules for visually impaired people. In other words, does the objective that we, both you and I, are pursuing, require or demand an international treaty or not?
Independently of this debate, we must also be pragmatic, and focus on a more concrete and more urgent issue. Can the text currently on the table, in its succinctness and in its substance, provide a practical, credible and effective solution to the problems encountered by visually impaired people?
As regards the European Union and current legislation, all Member States have introduced exceptions for visually impaired people in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and with the directive on copyright in the information society. Furthermore, concrete measures have been taken to encourage, at the level of the European Union, cooperation between rights holders and organisations representing visually impaired people.
More than just an exception, what we also need, of course, is effective cooperation between creators and organisations of visually impaired people to ensure that books become accessible as quickly as possible in the most appropriate formats for those who need them. The need for books in accessible formats for visually impaired people is a real and urgent need. We must therefore ensure that the prime objective of the discussions is to find the best answer in concrete, practical, effective terms, and as quickly as possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, these discussions on substance must be a first step on the way to allowing us, once stakeholders have reached a joint, robust position, to determine the legal nature of the instrument to be introduced. Should it be a treaty? Should it be a recommendation? I am personally open to either of these two positions.
The Commission and the European Union are engaged in constructive discussions. We have helped to move the discussions forward by proposing, with the support of other States, a single text to replace the four previous texts. This text was greeted as a major step forward, also by the World Blind Union. However, I think we should go further in its material content."@en1
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