6.1. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 2/5 
Proposal for a Council Regulation introducing the preparatory phase of a Community 
programme on trade electronic data interchange systems (TEDIS) 
COM(86) 662 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 3 December 1986) 
(87/C 2/05) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas the Community has as its task, by establishing a 
common market and progressively approximating the 
economic policies of Member States, to promote 
throughout the Community a harmonious development 
of economic activities and closer relations between the 
States belonging to it; 
Whereas the Heads of State or of Government, meeting 
in Stuttgart, Athens and Fontainebleau, have emphasized 
the importance of telecommunications as a vital driving 
force for economic growth and social development; 
Whereas the European Parliament, in evaluating the 
situation and development of telecommunications, 
emphasized the key role of the latter in the future 
political, social and economic development of the 
Community (debates of the European Parliament on 
telecommunications 1983, Leonardi report, Albert and 
Ball report of 1982); 
Whereas on 17 December 1984, the Council approved 
the main features of a Community policy on 
telecommunications, including the aim of developing 
advanced telecommunication services and networks 
through Community projects; 
Whereas the telecommunications sector is of great 
economic importance as regards both its own industrial 
activities and its contribution to efficient information 
interchange throughout the Community; Whereas there are specific aspects to information 
technology standards and the work needed to produce 
them, and in particular: 
— the complexity of the technical specifications and the 
precision needed for data interchange and systems 
interoperability; 
— the urgent need for standards in order to prevent 
totally incompatible (trade) electronic data inter­
change systems being developed; 
— the need to ensure that international standards are 
implemented on a basis that makes them credible for 
practical use; 
Whereas a general programme of information techno­
logy and telecommunications standardization is being 
implemented; 
Whereas the proposal for a Council Directive on stan­
dardization in the field of information technology and 
telecommunications is intended to establish in those 
sectors a general framework for drawing up standards or 
common technical specifications so as to facilitate infor­
mation exchange throughout the Community by 
breaking down the barriers created by the in­
compatibilities that stem from the absence of standards 
or their lack of precision; 
Whereas under the CD project (!) action is to be taken 
to ensure close cooperation with commercial and 
industrial interests so as to provide appropriate 
communications and information exchange interfaces 
between commercial and industrial systems and those of 
customs administration; 
Whereas the abovementioned objective can be achieved 
only through the establishment of close cooperation 
between commercial and industrial interests in different 
industries so as to ensure the necessary compatibility of 
trade electronic data interchange systems; 
O OJ No C 167, 6. 7. 1985, p. 3. 
No C 2/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 6.1.87 
Whereas the CDproject requires that consideration be 
given to the aspects concerning the security, protection 
and privacy of data in respect of imports, exports and 
intra-Community trade supplied to, held by, or in course 
of transmission between the Commission, customs 
administrations and commercial CIRCLES; 
Whereas the above questions form part of a much wider 
issue, the protection of information in the context of 
trade electronic data interchange between information 
systems; whereas it is essential to ensure consistency 
between the measures taken under the CD project and 
those implemented in the industrial context; 
Whereas the Commission's White Paper on completing 
the internal market underlines the importance of the 
development of new cross-border services and the part 
that telecommunications networks based on common 
standards can play in creating a market free of obstacles 
at Community level; 
Whereas trade electronic data interchange can in­
creasingly help to strengthen the competitiveness of 
European companies in manufacturing and services; 
Whereas there is at present a rapid increase in public and 
private efforts at both national and international level to 
bring into service within companies, groups and 
industries trade electronic data interchange systems that 
are not compatible with each other; 
Whereas the diverse and piecemeal approaches to trade 
electronic data interchange adopted within a country or 
more generally a firm, group of firms or industry are 
likely to lead to the establishment of incompatible 
systems unable to communicate with each other and to 
prevent both users and suppliers of equipment and 
services from benefiting to the full from the advantages 
offered by the development of trade electronic data 
interchange; 
Whereas to ensure that these trade electronic data 
interchange systems be able to communicate it is 
necessary to adopt a programme containing an initial set 
of activities of common interest needed for the 
coordinated development of trade electronic data 
interchange and a further set of activities more closely 
linked to sectoral projects so as to help solve in a 
coordinated fashion the common problems encountered 
during their development; 
Whereas in a preparatory phase it is necessary to carry 
out activities and studies so as to establish and develop 
conditions conducive to the coordinated development of 
trade electronic data interchange; Whereas in the light of results obtained in the 
preparatory phase it will be necessary to define the aims 
and details of a second phase offering support for pilot 
projects and continuing some of the activities started in 
the preparatory phase; 
Whereas the Treaty has not provided the necessary-
specific powers, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
A Community programme on trade electronic data 
interchange systems (TEDIS) is herey set up. 
Article 2 
The preparatory phase shall be implemented in 
accordance with the provisions of this Regulation. It 
shall cover a period of two years starting on 1 January 
1987. 
Article 3 
The aims of the preparatory phase are: 
1. coordination at Community level of work going on 
in the Member States on the development of trade 
electronic data interchange systems; 
2. alerting of potential users; 
3. alerting of European hardware and software manu­
facturers to the opportunities offered by electronic 
data interchange; 
4. logistic support for European sectoral groups; 
5. consideration of the specific requirements of trade 
electronic data interchange in telecommunications 
and standardization policies; carrying out of 
preparatory work for that pupose; 
6. help in the setting up of conformance testing centres 
for software and hardware used in trade electronic 
data interchange systems; 
6.1.87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 2/7 
7. solving of legal problems that might inhibit the 
development of trade electronic data interchange 
and ensuring that restrictive telecommunications 
regulations cannot hamper the development of trade 
electronic data interchange; 
8. study of security requirements for trade electronic 
data interchange systems so as to guarantee 
confidentiality of messages transmitted; 
9. study of specific problems caused by the many 
different languages in the Community and exami­
nation of the possibility of using of the results 
obtained or expected under the machine translation 
programmes Systran and Eurotra; 
10. study of the advisability of promoting the 
development of the specialized software needed for 
trade electronic data interchange; 
11. list of existing or potential sectoral projects on trade 
electronic data interchange and a comparative 
analysis of them; 
12. identification of special requirements emerging 
during the implementation of trade electronic data 
interchange systems that could be solved more easily 
with Community assistance; 
13. particular study of the assistance that could be given 
small businesses to help them to take part in trade 
electronic data interchange; 
14. possible support for pilot projects whose gradual 
implementation would help to find solutions that 
could be extended to problems of common interest 
encountered by most trade electronic data 
interchange systems. 
Article 4 
Activities in the preparatory phase shall be carried on in 
coordination with the existing or planned policies and 
activities in the Community on telecommunications, the information market, value-added networks and services, 
standardization and multilingualism, and in particular 
with the Caddia and CD projects, so as to ensure the 
necessary interaction with the specific requirements of 
trade electronic data interchange. 
Article "> 
Contracts for the preparatory phase shall be concluded 
with companies, including small and medium-sized firms, 
research establishments and other bodies established in 
the Community. 
Article 6 
1. The Community shall contribute to the preparatory 
phase of the programme within the limits of the appropri­
ations entered for that purpose in the general budget of 
the Communities. 
2. The amount estimated necessary to cover the 
Community's contribution to the work in the 
preparatory phase of the programme is 6 million ECU 
for the duration of the preparatory phase. 
Article 7 
The Commission shall ensure that the preparatory phase 
of the TEDIS programme is carried out satisfactorily 
and shall take the appropriate implementing measures. 
Article 8 
The Commission shall submit to the Council by 1 
January 1989 at the latest a report on the execution of 
the work defined in this Regulation and on guidelines 
for the continuation of the TEDIS programme. 
Article 9 
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1987. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.