As more and more pressure was piled upon Parliament to reject the deal, the European Commission, the body responsible for negotiating the agreement on behalf of the E.U., asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for its opinion and urged the Parliament to wait for a ruling. The European People's Party on Wednesday morning called a vote on whether to delay a decision on ACTA until after the ECJ ruling, but were out-voted by their colleagues, 420 to 255.

Despite the rejection of the deal outright, the ECJ will still assess the question of whether or not it is compatible with E.U. law, but this is now an academic exercise.

The international agreement can only enter into force if ratified by six of the 11 signatories: the E.U., Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.S. and Switzerland. However, Mexico has already rejected it and Australia and Switzerland look set to follow suit. Even Japan, where the deal was signed, is having second thoughts. Wednesday's E.U. vote is likely to further strengthen their resolve to kick it out.