Yesterday, the European Parliament voted on the term extension proposal.
Unfortunately though opposition was substantial it was not enough to prevent the modified (70-year) extension passing:
- Amendment in favour of the rejection: 222 IN FAVOUR, 370 AGAINST, 10 ABSTENTION
- Key amendment to ensure benefits only to performers: rejected (no roll-call vote so numbers unknown)
- All other good amendments (no ex-post, lifetime of performer only): rejected (~150 in favour 400 against)
Final vote: 317 in favour 178 against 37 abstention
Though this is a depressing result this is not yet the end of the matter by any means: the Council has not yet resolved its position and there is a possibility of a second reading.
The level of opposition was also impressive given that there was strong support for the extension not only from the rapporteur (Mr Crowley), but also from the main political groupings (EPP and PSE) led by their shadow rapporteurs Mr Toubon and Ms Gill respectively (on a fairly obscure issue such as this most MEPs will have little time to scrutinize the matter and will usually follow the “party line” as determined by the party rapporteur and coordinator for that dossier).
