European Commission and the governments of Czech Republic Germany Ireland Poland Slovakia Sweden United Kingdom
This petition is run by Carsten Direske
Stop the blockade that prevents easy and quicker access of blind and visually impaired people to books in accessible formats. Put the Marrakesh treaty into force as soon as possible. Stop putting national interests higher than the human right of more than 25 million European citizens to read and participate in education and culture.
Why is this important
The Marrakesh Treaty is an international copyright instrument, adopted in June 2013 aiming at facilitating access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. The EU signed it in April 2014. But two years on, it is not into force yet due to quarrels about who's competence it is to ratify. Seven member states blocked an initial suggestion for the process of the European Commission. European Parliament called these seven states to re-think their policy.
The European Commission promised to make a new suggestion how to deal with the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty. The seven blocking member states should be consulted to assure that they won't block again. The whole process needs to be sped up as national copyrights might have to be changed anyway.
References
[1] The Marrakesh Treaty (on WIPO page)
[2] A broader statement of The EU Commission regarding the treaty, too
[3] The main facts by EBU European Blind Union
