mr president with regard to the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement acta the current negotiations completely lack transparency
to use the current negotiating formula to generate a global agreement is totally contrary to the transparent and democratic processes that we should expect from our lawmakers
regardless of the content of the agreement it is unacceptable to avoid public scrutiny when generating policies that will directly affect so many european citizens
on the issue of content we need to pay full attention to the european data protection supervisor who has issued a very strongly worded opinion on these negotiations
he strongly encourages the european commission to establish a public and transparent dialogue on acta
he also states that while intellectual property is important to society and must be protected it should not be placed above individuals fundamental rights to privacy data protection and other rights such as presumption of innocence effective judicial protection and freedom of expression
finally he states that a three strikes internet disconnection policy would profoundly restrict the fundamental rights and freedoms of eu citizens
this is a very important issue for all eu citizens and how the commission and parliament deal with it will say a great deal about accountability and transparency
