21. 4. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 105/1 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation introducing the Preparatory Phase of a 
Community Programme on Trade Electronic Data Interchange Systems (TEDIS) (J) 
(87/C 105/01) 
On 15 December 1986 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the abovementioned 
proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 4 February 1987 in the light of the Report 
by Mr Nierhaus. 
At its 244th Plenary Session (meeting of 26 February 1987) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by a majority in favour, with six abstentions: 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The development of trade electronic data inter­
change systems is an important facet of a comprehensive 
Community strategy in the field of technology. Ultimately 
it means using standard Community-wide networks for the 
trouble-free digital transmission of graphics, alphanu-
merics and speech in the business and private sectors. 
1.2. To achieve this, the EDP systems used by the 
transmitting station, the receiving station and the network 
operator must be interfaced in such a way that data can be 
interchanged trouble-free with the aid of compatible codes. 
1.3. The general aim of this policy is easy to define but to 
translate it into reality represents an enormous political, 
economic and technological challenge. It will also have 
considerable social consequences, the full complexities of 
which cannot yet be appraised. Enough problems will be 
posed by the technology alone, i.e. the development and 
(!) OJ No C 2, 6. 1. 1987, p. 5. standardization of the transmission technology (e. g. cable, 
satellite), the control and switching technology, and last 
but not least the terminal equipment. 
1.4. Different aspects of this complicated subject have 
already been tackled in a whole host of Community 
projects with widely varying levels of finance. Despite a 
number of encouraging signs (e. g. agreement on an ISDN 
standard) the Community-wide integration of national 
developments on the basis of international standards 
(where they exist) is still in its infancy. 
1.5. The preparatory phase of TEDIS must therefore be 
seen in the context of these IT projects, which the Economic 
and Social Committee has strongly supported in recent 
years in its Opinions. 
2. General comments 
The Committee gives its basic support to the proposal. 
However, it is not certain whether, in view of the relatively 
No C 105/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 4. 87 
small budget for the many planned activities and studies, it 
will be possible to focus on those subjects which will yield 
the best practical results. This will not be sufficiently clear 
until further information is available about the pilot project 
phase's funding and the subjects on which it will focus. The 
Commitee would, however, stress the need for an even 
greater willingness on the part of national postal author­
ities to participate closely in the development of Com­
munity-wide services. 
3. Specific comments 
3.1. The problems of the transmission technology, the 
control and switching technology and — to some extent — 
the terminal equipment are bound up with the Community-
wide ISDN and so are tackled in the relevant Community 
programmes (e. g. RACE). Accordingly, the Committee 
wonders whether the present programme, with its very 
limited time-scale and funds, should not be concentrated 
more on the problems posed by the technical, economic, 
legal and social aspects of the services' organization. What 
is involved here is the interchange of data, texts and 
documents between authorities, businesses and private 
households on the basis of uniform standards and the 
definition of the requisite high-level protocols (levels 5-7 of 
the ISO architecture model). 
3.2. The most promising and advanced technical 
development (also as far as the definition of high-level 
protocols is concerned) are the packet-switching services in 
some Member States and within the Euronet Diane 
network. Priority support should be given to this low-cost 
data transmission technology in the further development of 
services into a European-wide system. 
3.3. The Committee thinks that it is very important to 
coordinate the individual Member States' work. The 
activities under individual Community programmes should 
also be carefully coordinated from the point of view of the 
services' application. 
3.4. The alerting of potential users is considered by the 
Committee to be very important in creating acceptance of 
the wide-scale introduction of Electronic data interchange 
(EDI). It wonders, however, whether this task should not 
be carried out to a greater extent than planned by national governments and network operators, given the very small 
budget for TEDIS. As the network is to be Community-
wide, however, there should be an agreed strategy. 
3.5. The Committee assumes that producers of hard­
ware and software have already been extensively alerted to 
the possibilities afforded by the development of EDI 
systems and that the problems involved in implementing 
these systems are not unknown either. Even more 
important for European • producers, however, is the 
creation of a favourable technical and political environ­
ment so as to make low-cost volume production possible in 
the medium and long term. This, however, is a general task 
which transcends the scope of TEDIS, though it is an 
explicit part of more comprehensive programmes (e. g. 
ESPRIT, RACE). 
3.6. One problem which is of fundamental importance 
for the expansion and use of Community-wide services and 
which must be solved for EDI is the wide array of 
Community languages. This problem represents a serious 
competitive disadvantage for the Communisty vis-a-vis the 
comparable US and Japanese economies. The Committee is 
therefore particularly pleased to note that the use of 
machine translation programmes is to be studied during the 
preparatory phase. It wonders, however, whether the 
language question should not be dealt with more com­
prehensively at this stage, though this would entail a 
considerable increase in the 50 000 ECU appropriation. At 
all events the Committee hopes that the further study of this 
question will be given high priority during the pilot project 
phase. 
3.7. The Committee would point out that it is necessary 
to give detailed consideration to the special problems of 
less-favoured regions not only in the STAR programme but 
also in the preparatory phase of TEDIS. 
3.8. The Committee considers that the references to 
small and medium-sized firms in Art. 3 (13) and Art. 5 
should explicitly include 'artisanal activities' in those 
countries where a precise legal definition of that status 
exists. 
3.9. The Committee agrees wholeheartedly with the 
Commission that close consultations will have to be held 
with the capital goods industry and the user industries and 
services if TEDIS is to achieve its strategic objective. On 
account of the direct and indirect effects on the labour 
21. 4. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 105/3 
3.10. The Committee trusts that the interim report 
which is to be prepared between the preparatory and the 
pilot project phases will also be submitted to the Economic 
and Social Committee. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT 
APPENDIX 
Rejected amendments 
The following amendments, based on the Section Opinion and submitted in accordance with the Rules of 
Procedure, were rejected by the Committee in the course of the discussions: 
Add the following point 1.6 after point 1.5: 
'1.6. The Committee would in particular like to draw the Commission's attention to the overtly 
protectionist measures of some national telecommunications administrations in the selection of telematics 
equipment.' 
Reasons 
A stop must be put to the protectionist partitioning of national markets if there is to be a genuine internal 
market. 
Result of the vote 
Votes for: 40, votes against: 48, Abstentions: 16. 
Insert the following new point 3.2 between 3.1 and 3.2 (which becomes 3.3) 
'3.2. The Committee stresses the need for an even greater willingness on the part of national postal 
authorities to participate closely in the development of Community-wide services and a limitation of their 
monopoly to the strictly essential.' 
Reasons 
A monopoly is justified only where it is strictly essential, e. g. the laying of cables. 
As long as Member States continue to pursue monopolistic policies, it will be practically impossible to attain the 
proposed objective. At present users pay too much for artificially overpriced equipment and inadequate 
services. 
Result of the vote 
Votes for: 43, votes against: 48, abstentions: 13. market and job design in business, industry and the public 
authorities, the Committee proposes that workers' and 
employers' organizations also be involved in these 
consultations at the earliest possible stage. 
Done at Brussels, 26 February 1987.