Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-09-Speech-2-477"
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"en.20100309.26.2-477"2
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".
Mr President, when dossiers are cooked up behind closed doors, alarm bells start ringing in my group. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is one such dossier. Many people in my country wondered why the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) had to be elected to the European Parliament, and here is why. It was so we could oppose the EU kitchen, which is ready and waiting to prepare all kinds of unsavoury concoctions behind closed doors without the public having any say in the matter.
This time, we do not even know as yet what will emerge from this EU kitchen; the European Parliament is expected to have an opinion on something that is still under wraps in there. Is there anything more ridiculous? This shows utter contempt for Parliament and the public. The information that has come to light about this ACTA court up to now is very dispiriting. The consumer would be the victim, with the possibility of excluding citizens from the Internet: a very serious matter.
Europe has always been the continent where people’s freedom to accumulate knowledge takes pride of place. This freedom would now be under serious threat, which cannot and must not happen. In addition, we are looking at a violation of the principle of subsidiarity. The Member States have absolutely no say in this dossier any more. My group stands for full transparency and vehemently opposes the criminalisation of citizens. ACTA breeds a culture of stifling surveillance and imputation; the State is watching you. ACTA circumvents all the existing international bodies, such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
What is the Commission up to in that secret kitchen? Why is it almost exclusively American companies who are involved in the consultations; what are they doing there? Are they there to safeguard their commercial interests? Yet what about the interests of European citizens? Could it be that they are less important? This is where the importance of the PVV becomes clear. We fight for the interests of the citizen wherever secrecy and back-room politics are to be found.
I should just like to place on record that the PVV opposes the counterfeiting of medicines and products. That is not what this discussion is about; it is about the fact that the Members of this House are unable to express a proper opinion on this dossier purely and simply because it has been kept secret and so we do not know its contents. We cannot imagine a more flagrant violation of the parliamentary mandate. As far as we are concerned, the whole stinking, secretive kitchen should be closed down and a large sign hung on the door reading ‘Closed owing to violation of the rules’."@en1
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