European companies lose around one percent of their sales every year due to counterfeiting and product piracy; hence thousands of jobs are destroyed. International counterfeiting rings primarily copy lifestyle products from European companies. Counterfeiting and product piracy are punished in most countries; additionally more and more companies are taking their own measures to rigorously pursue product piracy.

1.Will the Commission take action to proceed more efficiently against the import of counterfeit branded products in the European internal market?

2.The majority of counterfeited products, to the harm of European companies and national economies, originate from China and the question that arises here is how this fact affects the planned automatic granting of the market economy status for China.

3.An option for proceeding against the distribution of counterfeit products consists of blocking websites that offer counterfeits. In the USA, such bans cost 1 000 to 5 000 dollars. Are there resources available in the European Union to help intervene in such cases?