Fight against counterfeiting

Background

Not only does counterfeiting result in loss of revenue for intellectual property rightsholders, it also poses significant risks to consumer safety, public health and the environment.

Every year in the EU, counterfeiting is responsible for the loss of over 800 000 jobs and for EUR 16 billion in lost tax revenue. There are counterfeit and pirated products in every product category, and the proportion of products that constitute a threat to public health and safety is increasing.

All companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), that use intellectual property in their business models run the risk of their products being counterfeited. Furthermore, SMEs whose intellectual property has been infringed have a 34% lower chance of survival during the five years following the infringement.

More must be done to inform businesses about the fight against counterfeiting. Member States should step up the amount of compensation granted in counterfeiting cases. In fact, fear of low compensation discourages many companies which have been victimised from reporting it, and only 26% of businesses that have been victims of counterfeiting initiate legal proceedings.

In order to combat counterfeiting and enhance the enforcement of intellectual property rights, the European Commission has published a recommendation listing the measures to be taken. The EESC has welcomed this recommendation and made additional suggestions to complement and improve it.

Key points:

In its opinion, the EESC:

• believes that more can be done to support SMEs by increasing the amount of damages and compensation granted in counterfeiting cases. It should be recommended that Member States (that do not currently do so) recognise punitive damages in their national legislation.
• believes that it would be worth introducing Europe-wide counterfeiting insurance and that Member States should address the issue of how assets are valued.
• calls for simpler, faster and more effective procedures for reporting and withdrawing advertisements for counterfeit products for sale online, and will monitor whether the obligations laid down in the Digital Services Act have a real impact on reducing the supply of counterfeit goods on the internet.

The text of the draft opinion can be found here.

Additional information

Section: Single Market, Production and Consumption (INT)

Opinion number: INT/1067

Opinion type: Optional

Rapporteur: Bruno Choix

Reference: European Commission, 29/7/2024

Date of adoption by section: 1/10/2024

Result of the vote: 58 in favour/ 0 against/ 0 abstentions                                                   

Date of adoption in plenary: 23/10/2024 – 24/10/2024

Result of the vote:  167 in favour/ 0 against/ 0 abstentions

Contacts:

Press officers: Leonardo Pavan/Laura Lui          

Tel.: 00 32 2 546 9189

Email: leonardo.pavan@eesc.europa.eu/laurairena.lui@eesc.europa.eu

Administrator: Annalisa Tessarolo

Tel.: +32 2 546 9732

Email: Annalisa.Tessarolo@eesc.europa.eu