The European Parliament (EP) has approved the first directive aimed at harmonising penal legislation in European Union member states.

In Strasbourg on April 25, MEPs approved the first reading of a report on harmonisation of national measures against breaches of intellectual property rights.

The report, drafted by socialist MEP Nicola Zingaretti, was approved with 374 votes for, 278 against and 17 abstentions.

If the EP and the European Council give their final approval to the legislation, the directive will oblige member states to treat as a crime deliberate violations of intellectual property rights for commercial purposes. The text proposes diverse measures, from fines to imprisonment, depending on the seriousness of the crime.

MEPs amended just a few of the proposed texts. Patent rights were excluded from the aegis of the directive, and it was decided that there would be penalties only for intellectual copyright breaches committed for commercial purposes. Piracy for private, non-commercial use was excluded from the provisions of the directive.

Through the new directive, MEPs want to guarantee that all member states will impose sufficiently tough penalties. They set minimum penalties to be included in national laws. For example, serious crimes by an organised criminal group will mean a maximum penalty of at least 300 000 euro and/or four years in prison. Where violations lead to health and safety risks, the same maximum penalties will apply.

For less serious crimes, the maximum penalty will be a fine of at least 100 000 euro. Supporting or instigating the violation of intellectual property rights will also be regarded as a crime.

In some cases, material may be confiscated and destroyed, Bulgarian news agency Netinfo reported.

Critics say that the proposal is badly drafted and would affect millions of young Europeans including MEPs own teenagers, EU Observer reported.

In April, the European Commission proposed that there be an EU-wide law on the matter. The draft law is the first time that there has been an attempt to harmonise national criminal law in the EU.

EU industry commissioner Guenter Verheugen told MEPs on April 23: It (intellectual piracy) is a threat and danger to the European economy.

However, Spanish Green MEP David Hammerstein Mintz called the proposed law quite unacceptable and said that it launches a witch hunt across the EU on teenagers downloading music and movies from the internet, EU Observer reported.

Before the Strasbourg meeting at the end of April, organisations including the European consumer group BEUC sent an open letter to MEPs pressing the point that the terms defining criminal offences were vague enough to be a threat to civil rights. BEUC head Jim Murray said that under this current proposal the children of MEPs, together with millions of other young Europeans, would be subject to ill-defined threats of criminal sanctions, the Observer reported. He said that in pressing for this draconian proposal, the industry is fighting its own best current and future customers.

Nevertheless Zingaretti said his report was a positive compromise and the EU-wide legislation was needed because organised crime was a global activity that knew no boundaries.

After the report is adopted by the EP, it will be discussed among the 27 EU member states.