On 26 November 2012, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate, on behalf of the Union, an international agreement within the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on improved access to books for print-impaired persons.

Following the successful conclusion of those negotiations, the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (the ‘Marrakesh Treaty’) was adopted on 27 June 2013. The Marrakesh Treaty entered into force on 30 September 2016.

The Marrakesh Treaty establishes a set of international rules which ensure that there are limitations or exceptions to copyright at national level for the benefit of people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled. The Marrakesh Treaty also aims to enable the cross-border exchange of copies of published works that have been made in an accessible format under these limitations or exceptions to copyright. Thus, the Marrakesh Treaty will facilitate access to published works for its beneficiaries inside and outside the Union.

Under point (b) of Article 19 of the Marrakesh Treaty, in the case of the Union, the effective date of becoming a party to the Marrakesh Treaty is three months from the date on which the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession with the Director-General of WIPO has taken place. It is appropriate to align that date with the date by which Member States are to transpose Directive (EU) 2017/1564 and the date from which Regulation (EU) 2017/1563 applies. Therefore, the deposit of the ratification instrument should take place as from three months before the date by which Member States are to transpose Directive (EU) 2017/1564 and Regulation (EU) 2017/1563 becomes applicable.