Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Annex XI (Telecommunication Services) to the EEA Agreement - Draft common position of the Community

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. In order to ensure the requisite legal security and homogeneity, the EEA Joint Committee is to integrate all the relevant Community legislation into the EEA Agreement as soon as possible after its adoption.

2. The EEA Joint Committee should therefore adopt the attached decision to amend Annex XI to the EEA Agreement by adding recently adopted acquis in the field of Telecommunication Services. The decision concerns:

- 399 L 0093: Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures (OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 12).

3. The proposal includes standard adaptations on third country relations. Similar adaptations are included regularly when third country relations are relevant in acts of Annex XI, such as the Licensing Directive 97/13/EC and the Interconnection Directive 97/33/EC. They first appeared in the original Agreement in the domain of Financial Services, e.g. First Council Directive 79/267/EEC on Life assurance.

4. Article 1(3)(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning the arrangements for implementing the EEA Agreement envisages that the Council establishes the Community position for decisions extending Community legislation with substantial changes.

5. The Council is requested to approve the attached draft decision for adoption by the EEA Joint Committee.

Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Annex XI (Telecommunication Services) to the EEA Agreement

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as adjusted by the Protocol adjusting the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as 'the Agreement', and in particular Article 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Annex XI to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No ... of ... [1].

[1] OJ L ...

(2) Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures [2] is to be incorporated into the Agreement.

[2] OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 12.

(3) The provisions on third country aspects of Directive 1999/93/EC are to be adapted for the purposes of the Agreement,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The following shall be inserted in Annex XI to the Agreement after point 5g (Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council):

'5h. 399 L 0093: Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures (OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 12).

The provisions of the Directive shall, for the purposes of the present Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

(a) in Article 7(1)(c) the words "or between an EFTA State and third countries or international organisations" shall be inserted after the word "organisations";

(b) in situations referred to in Article 7(2), the Contracting Parties shall keep each other informed and, upon request, consultations shall take place within the EEA Joint Committee;

(c) Whenever the Community negotiates with a third country with respect to market access for community undertakings on the basis of Article 7(3), it shall endeavour to obtain equal treatment for undertakings of the EFTA States.'

Article 2

The texts of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council in the Icelandic and Norwegian languages, to be published in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities, shall be authentic.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on ... 2000, provided that all the notifications under Article 103(1) of the Agreement have been made to the EEA Joint Committee [3].

[3] [Constitutional requirements indicated./No constitutional requirements indicated.]

Article 4

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels, ..... 2000.

For the EEA Joint Committee

The President F. Barbaso

The Secretaries to the EEA Joint Committee G. Vik E. Gerner