Abstract: An adhesive composition and accompanying tape wherein the adhesive is a water-soluble, pressure-sensitive adhesive mass consisting ofa) 100 parts by weight of at least one water-soluble copolymer of 55 to 90%-wt of at least one vinylcarbonic acid, 5 to 35%-wt of at least one hydroxyalkyl (meth-) acrylate, 1 to 15%-wt of at least one N-substituted (meth-)- acrylamide derivative of the formula ##STR1## in which R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are the same or different and can represent an alkyl wherein one of R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 can also be a hydrogen atom, and R.sub.3 is a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and 0.05 to 10%-wt of at least one vinylcarbonic acid salt,b) 50 to 200 parts by weight of at least one water-soluble softener including a polyoxyalkylene group having a molecular mass of up to 1000 andb) 0.1 to 8 parts by weight of a cross-linking agent.