WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
S/C/W/348 
26 September 2012  
 
(12-5153) 
Council for Trade in Services Original:   English 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION 
 
Contribution to the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce 
Authorisations and licences:  how to ensure the growth of electronic commerce through appropriate 
authorisation schemes:  the case of the European Union. 
 
The following communication, dated 25 Sept ember 2012, from the delegation of the 
European Union, is being circulated to th e Members of the Council for Trade in services. 
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1. On July 13, 2011, the European Union and the United States presented a set of trade-related 
principles designed to support the expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) networks and services, and enhance the development of electronic commerce.  As indicated in this communication, the European Union is convinced that the implementation of these principles will 
inter alia create the favourable conditions for th e development and growth of electronic commerce 
both domestically and cross-border.  For this reason, the delegations of  the European Union and of the 
United States have invited other Members to share their own experiences regarding the topics the identified principles address and notably to consid er whether any additional principles should be 
explored to address issues that may not be re flected in the current set of principles. 
2. In this context and with the view  of stimulating the debate at the next meeting of the Council 
of Trade in services of October 5, 2012, the EU wi shes to share its own experience with regard to the 
principle number 8 relating to "Authorisations and Licenses".  
3. Authorisation procedures are important regulatory tools, as they contribute to ensure that 
services suppliers comply with a set of obligatio ns relating to public policy objectives such as 
consumer protection, liability or technical requireme nts.  However, such procedures may also lead to 
a burdensome process that can hinder the development of a sector and create real barriers to market 
access.  This is all the more true for small a nd medium-sized enterprises, which often lack the 
administrative capacity to follow and comply with broad set of authorization rules and long and complex procedures.  An appropriate balance has th erefore to be found.  This issue is of critical 
importance because a well-thought authorisation schem e can contribute to unleash the full potential of 
electronic commerce. 
4. When it comes to the European experience, el ectronic commerce is mainly regulated by two 
sets of rules:  the directives relating to electr onic communications services and the directives relating 
to information society services.  Those directives contain overarching principles, which guide authorisation procedures and criteria in the 27 EU Member States for the provision of electronic commerce. S/C/W/348 
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  I. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES 
5. Electronic communications services in the meaning of EU law are all services which consist 
wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals on electronic communication (telecommunication) networks, but exclude services providing, or exerci sing editorial control over, content (which are 
regulated by dedicated instruments).  Those servi ces broadly correspond to the basic and value-added 
telecommunication services in the sense of the W120 classification. 
6. The European law enshrines the freedom to  provide electronic communication services, 
subject to the conditions set out in the relevant EU  directives.  A two-tier system has been put into 
place, combining "general authorisation" and "individual rights of use". 
7. By default, electronic communication services are being authorised through a "general 
authorisation".  The latter cover any legal framewo rk defining rights and obligations for the services 
suppliers.  Whatever the scope and nature of t hose rights and obligations might be, the services 
suppliers might only be obliged to submit a notifica tion, and are not required to obtain an explicit 
decision or any other administrative act by the nationa l regulatory authority.  As a consequence, most 
of the electronic communication services are authorised by simple notification.  The latter is therefore 
sufficient to supply electronic communications ser vices, apply for the rights to install facilities, 
negotiate interconnection or be designa ted to supply universal service.  
8. For a limited set of issues, namely the use of radio frequencies and numbers - and because of 
their scarcity -, the services suppliers are required to acquire an "individual right of use" from the 
national regulatory authority.  Those individual ri ghts of use are granted through open, objective, 
transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate procedures.  
9. These two authorisation schemes apply to both th e cross-border provisions of services and to 
the provision of services through commercial presence.  With procedures that are simple, fast and that 
give the priority to simple notification, the EU has supported the growth of electronic communications throughout the 27 EU Member States, creating therefore the right conditions for a vibrant and competitive electronic communications market. 
II. INFORMATION SOCIETY SERVICES 
10. Information society services cover in EU law all services provided at a distance, by electronic 
means, and at the individual request of the cons umer.  Except some particular sectors, regulated by 
other legislative instruments – such as financial services, information society services cover most of 
the services provided online. 
11. The European legislation enshrines the freedom  to provide information society services from 
one EU Member State into another EU Member State, except for a limited set of exceptions and in 
cases of specific derogations that would need to be justified for reasons of publ ic order, public health, 
public security or protection of consumers.  This me ans that in principle none of the Member States 
may restrict, for reasons falling within the coordi nated field , the freedom to provide information 
society services cross-border. 
12. Furthermore, for services identified as informa tion society services, the EU directive ensures 
that the taking up and pursuit of the supply of such services on a permanent basis shall not be made subject to prior authorisation or any other requireme nts having equivalent effect.  There is therefore 
no specific authorisation or licensing process that coul d a priori prevent the provision of such services 
by information society service providers that establish themselves in the country of destination.  S/C/W/348 
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  13. The absence of prior authorisation does not however exempt information services suppliers 
from complying with a series of legal obligations such  as the type of information to be provided to the 
consumer (contact details, professional title if a pplicable, references relating to VAT…), existing 
rules relating to contracts concluded by electronic means or the obligations pertaining to the liability 
of intermediary services providers. 
III. CONCLUSION 
14. As a consequence of the approach highlighted above, most of the information society services 
and electronic communication services, provided within a Member State or cross-border within the EU, are either exempt from any authorisation procedur es or a subject to a light notification procedure.  
This system was successfully pu t into place without compromising on broader policy objectives such 
as consumer protection or the legitimate need to regulate. 
15. In the view of the forthcoming meeting of the Council for Trade in Services of October 5, 
2012, the EU would welcome questions from Memb ers on the procedures described in the present 
paper.  The EU would also welcome any informati on Members might wish to share with regard to 
their own authorisation procedures and regulatory frameworks. 
 
 
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