Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats
German Euro MP Bernd Lange was today appointed spokesperson on trade for the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.
Commenting on the upcoming discussion in the Parliament of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)*, Mr Lange said:
"I doubt the report will be voted before the summer. There are still many open questions on how this agreement would affect citizens and specific areas such as access to generic medicines and net neutrality. We don't want internet providers to become the sheriffs of cyberspace.
"We will examine the text in detail and maybe ask the European Court of Justice for a legal opinion.
"The Commission has failed in its transparency policy and it did not share the information with the Parliament over the negotiation process. We could only read the first drafts of the negotiations because other negotiating partners made them public.
"Now the only possibility we have in the European Parliament is either to give our consent or refuse the whole text, without any chance to amend it. It is a critical decision for the EU and we cannot vote in a rush."
* The European Commission signed last week ACTA, the international agreement on copyright and intellectual property protection. The international trade committee in the European Parliament will hold its first discussion on this agreement at the end of February and the vote in the plenary is initially scheduled for June.
Victoria Martín de la Torre
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‘I doubt ACTA will be voted before the summer,’ says Euro MP Bernd Lange. Commenting on the upcoming discussion in the Parliament of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), Mr Lange said: ‘I doubt the report will be voted before the summer. There are still many open questions on how this agreement would affect citizens and specific areas such as access to generic medicines and net neutrality. We don't want internet providers to become the sheriffs of cyberspace’
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