“The current debate about ACTA in the EU has been focused on a wealth of misinformation and unsubstantiated claims about how the provisions of ACTA will harm the EU,” said Jeffrey Hardy, BASCAP Director. “At a time when Europe is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, with little to no growth and high unemployment, the real discussion should be focused on how ACTA will lead to greater protection of intellectual property around the globe and how this will benefit the EU economy. This new report provides several different scenarios for what would happen to EU exports, economic growth and job creation with the adoption of ACTA by the current signatories, including the EU, and from expansion to four other countries. We believe it is time for the EU decision-makers to look at the data and recognize the enormous potential value to the EU economy that can result from adoption of ACTA.”

The new report concludes that the EU can expect to see increased trade to the ACTA signatories, and that this increase in exports will lead to an increase of up to €19 billion in the EU economy. If ACTA can be expanded beyond the initial group of signatory countries, including the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the value to the EU country will be significantly greater. The increase in exports to the BRIC countries alone that could be expected with greater intellectual property (IP) protection under ACTA could increase EU growth by a further €23 billion. With stronger enforcement of IP rights in countries where counterfeit products are rife (i.e. China), EU Gross Value Added could increase by a further €8 billion.