Brussels, 24/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Commission made a request this week for the Court of Justice to make a formal decision on the compliance of the ACTA text with fundamental rights. Whilst awaiting the decision, the discussion on the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA) will begin on 29 February, with the attendance of Commissioner Karel De Gucht, at the European Parliament's international trade committee, which will have until June to decide whether it will approve the text or not. On 28 February, an anti-ACTA petition will be submitted to the petitions committee. On 1 March, experts, academics and representatives from civil society will attend a seminar where they will debate the potential impact of ACTA on civil liberties. Supporting the agreement as it currently stands, Christofer Fjellner from Sweden spoke on behalf of the EPP and welcomed the fact that ACTA had been referred to the European Court of Justice. The MEP said that they took the concerns raised by citizens regarding rights and civil liberties very seriously, but welcomed the agreement as “an initiative that contributes to legal security” for European industry's intellectual property rights. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) provided a more cautious appraisal on this controversial text. Guy Verhofstadt welcomed the wise decision to go to court and pointed out that this agreement has raised too much concern among public opinion concerning the risks of censorship of internet access. He said: “We can only have a calm debate on the ratification of ACTA if these fears are dispelled.” The Belgian MEP, however, said that the Commission “should take this time to multiply its efforts to fin-tune modern and coherent legislation concerning internet copyright laws”. (EH/transl.fl)