The invention relates to a human lnterieuldn-2 (hIL-2) specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), or antigen binding fragment thereof, the binding of which to hlL-2 inhibits binding of hlL-2 to CD25 and the antibody is characterized by any of the parameters: the variable chain of the mAb comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 005 or SEQ ID NO 006; the binding to hIL-2 is characterized by a dissociation constant (KD)= 7,5 nmol/L; the binding to hIL-2 is characterized by an off-rate (?off)= 1x10-4 s-1 and/or the antibody displays no measurable cross-reactivity to murine IL-2.