Sergey Stanishev, interim President of the Party of European Socialists, has called on the European Parliament to vote against the controversial ACTA agreement in June.

On Thursday, Stanishev noted that "the ACTA proposal is wrong in both content and process. It does not reflect the interest of citizens but the interests of big corporations and profit margins: it confers on them alarmingly broad powers to punish and restrict."

"We cannot allow this legislation to privatize Internet governance and limit fundamental freedoms. Intellectual property rights must be guaranteed, but not at the expense of the rights of the citizens. The statement adopted at the PES Presidency on Thursday 9 February commits the PES to a long term campaign to remove the stated risks from the draft," he added.

Stanishev declared that "PES does not support the type of extreme censorship as proposed by ACTA, and regrets that the conservative majority in the European Parliament have shut down any opportunity to conduct a clear and fair debate at social and political level".

PES has adopted a text which condemns what the party perceives as democratic shortcomings of ACTA and warns against its potential threat to the fundamental rights of the citizens.

The agreement is at risk of allowing internet providers to violate Internet privacy and would restrict open discourse, PES believes, adding that there are concerns that it would also limit the access to generic medicine.

This proposal has been negotiated behind closed doors since 2007, PES has reminded,.

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