Pirate parties agree on joint campaign for EP polls

Prague, April 15 (CTK) - Representatives of the European Pirate Parties agreed at a conference in Prague yesterday to prepare a joint platform and campaign for the elections to the European Parliament in 2014, Czech Pirate Party (CPS) chairman Mikulas Ferjencik has told CTK.

The document may create the basis for a more unified steps of the European Pirates, but it must yet be approved by the parties in individual countries, Ferjencik added.

Members of the Pirate Parties from over 25 countries met at the two-day Pirate Parties International conference in Prague at the weekend.

Apart from the election of the Pirate Parties International (PPI) leadership, the delegates mainly discussed how to have stronger say in politics and succeed in elections, following the example of their Swedish and German colleagues.

The PPI admitted the Croatian and Greek Pirate Parties at the conference. The Slovak Pirates have also asked for membership on which the organisation's representatives will vote online.

"We will coordinate the campaign and start working on a joint programme that we will share all over Europe," Ferjencik said.

The parties also agreed that if they succeeded in the EP elections, they would establish their own Pirate EP group.

European Pirate Parties concluded that they would be promoting a more transparent state and citizens' larger share in decision-making, Ferjencik said, adding that they would also seek a reform of the intellectual property concept.

The popularity of the German Pirate Party has been rising since it success in the land elections in Berlin and Saarland. According to the latest polls, the party's support amounts to some 10 percent.

Pirate Parties primarily focus on the Internet freedom and on restricting copyright that they consider an obstacle to the free spread of music, films and computer programmes.

Most recently, Pirate Parties drew public and media attention by their protests against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which, they say, would limit the Internet freedom.

The Pirate Parties have been established since 2006, inspired by the Swedish Pirates. At present there are some 60 of them in the world.