COMMON POSITION (EC) No 9/1999 adopted by the Council on 21 December 1998 with a view to the adoption of Council Decision 1999/.../EC of ... 1999, adopting a series of actions and measures in order to ensure interoperability of and access to trans-European networks for the electronic interchange of data between administrations (IDA)
Date: 1998-12-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: access to EU information, administrative cooperation, exchange of information, information network, trans-European network, transmission network

25.2.1999

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C 55/15

COMMON  POSITION  (EC)  No  9/1999

adopted  by  the  Council  on  21  December  1998

with a view to the adoption of Council Decision 1999/. . ./EC of . . . 1999, adopting a series of
actions  and  measures  in  order  to  ensure  interoperability  of  and  access  to  trans-European
networks  for  the  electronic  interchange  of  data  between  administrations  (IDA)

(1999/C 55/02)

THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  THE  COUNCIL
OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

(4) Whereas  the  Commission  has  proposed  an  action

plan  for  the  single  Market;

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and 
in  particular  paragraph  3  of
Article  129d  thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Having  regard  to  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  of  the
Regions (3),

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in
Article  189b  of  the  Treaty (4),

(5) Whereas  the  European  Parliament,  in  its  resolution
of  12  June  1997 (7),  invited  the  European  Union
and  the  Member  States  to  take  action  with  regard
to 
the  development  and  application  of  new
information and communication technologies (ICT)
in  the  next  decade;

(6) Whereas the European Parliament and the Council,
in  Decision  No  2717/95/EC (8),  adopted  a  series  of
guidelines  for  the  development  of  Euro-ISDN  as  a
trans-European  network;

(7) Whereas the European Parliament and the Council,
in  Decision  No  1336/97/EC (9),  adopted  a  series  of
guidelines  for  trans-European  telecommunication
networks;

(1) Whereas  the  Council,  in  its  resolution  of  20  June
1994 (5), emphasised the need for coordination with
regard 
between
administrations;

information 

exchange 

to 

(2) Whereas 

the  Council, 

resolution  of
21  November  1996 (6),  established  new  policy
priorities  regarding  the  information  society;

its 

in 

(3) Whereas  the  Commission,  in  its  communication  of
19  July  1994,  proposed  an  action  plan  for  the
information  society;

(1) OJ  C  54,  21.2.1998,  p.  12.
(2) OJ  C  214,  10.7.1998,  p.  33.
(3) OJ  C  251,  10.8.1998,  p.  1.
(4) Opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  of 

. . .  (not  yet
published  in  the  Official  Journal),  Council  common  position
of  21  December  1998  and  Decision  of  the  European
in  the  Official
. . .  (not  yet  published 
Parliament  of 
Journal).

(5) OJ  C  181,  2.7.1994,  p.  1.
(6) OJ  C  376,  12.12.1996,  p.  1.

(8) Whereas  the  Council, 

in 

its  Recommendation
95/144/EC  of  7  April  1995  on 
common
information  technology  security  evaluation  criteria
(ITSEC) (10),  recommended  the  use  of  security
evaluation 
and
certification  schemes;

criteria  within 

evaluation 

(9) Whereas, 

in  order  to  establish  economic  and
monetary  union,  to  implement  Community  policies
to  support  communication
and  activities  and 
between  the  Community  institutions  and  bodies,
there 
integrated  data
communications  systems  between  administrations,
hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘telematic  networks‘;

is  a  need  to  establish 

(10) Whereas  such  networks  must  link  the  information
systems,  both  existing  and  future,  of  the  Member
State  administrations  and  the  Community  across
Europe 
trans-European
telecommunication  networks  for  administrations;

therefore, 

and 

are, 

(7) OJ  C  200,  30.6.1997,  p.  196.
(8) OJ  L  282,  24.11.1995,  p.  16.
(9) OJ  L  183,  11.7.1997,  p.  12.
(10) OJ  L  93,  26.4.1995,  p.  27.

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25.2.1999

(11) Whereas  the  effective  linkage  of  such  information
systems 
of
interoperability  between  the  various  systems  and
their  components;

a  maximum 

requires 

degree 

(12) Whereas  it  is  essential  to  maximise  the  use  of
standards,  publicly  available  specifications  and
public  domain  applications  to  ensure  seamless
interoperability  in  order  to  achieve  economies  of
scale  and 
the  benefits  of  such
networks;

increase 

to 

(13) Whereas  an  enhanced 

interface  with  public
administrations  will  encourage  citizens  of  the
European  Union  to  reap  the  benefits  of  the
information  society;

(14) Whereas 

the 

elimination 

to
communication between public administrations and
the  private  sector  is  an  important  factor  for  the
prosperity  and  competitiveness  of  Community
industry;

obstacles 

of 

those 

(15) Whereas  the  Community  is  a  user  or  a  beneficiary
of 
support
Community policies and activities, interinstitutional
communication  and  economic  and  monetary
union;

telematic  networks  which 

(16) Whereas  the  task  of  establishing  such  networks  is
incumbent  on  both  the  Community  and  the
Member  States;

(20) Whereas  any  measures  to  ensure  interoperability
between  and  access 
to  such  networks  must
maintain  a  judicious  balance  between  satisfying
common  requirements  and  preserving  national
specificities;

(21) Whereas  there  is  thus  a  need  to  carry  out  specific
horizontal  actions  and  measures  in  order  to  ensure
interoperability  between  such  networks;

(22) Whereas,  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of
subsidiarity  and  proportionality  established  by
Article  3b  of  the  Treaty,  the  objective  of  carrying
out such horizontal actions and measures cannot be
adequately  attained  by  the  Member  States  and  can
therefore,  by  reason  of  the  scale  and  effects  of  the
proposed  action,  be  better  attained  at  Community
level;  whereas  the  proposed  action  does  not  go
beyond  what  is  necessary  to  achieve  the  said
objective;

(23) Whereas  the  implementation  of  the  Agreement  on
the  European  Economic  Area  and  the  association
agreements with the European Community requires
a  high  degree  of  interoperability  within  and  across
the  relevant  telematic  networks;

(24) Whereas 

there 

international
dimension  to  telematic  networks  and  electronic
communication;

inherent 

is  an 

(17) Whereas,  in  order  to  make  efficient  use  of  the
Community’s  financial  resources,  it  is  necessary  to
avoid 
equipment,
proliferation 
repetition  of 
investigations  and  diversity  of
approach;

needless 

of 

(25) Whereas  the  measures  aimed  at  ensuring  the
interoperability  of  telematic  networks  betrween
administrations  are 
the
priorities  adopted  in  relation  to  the  guidelines  for
trans-European  telecommunications  networks;

in  accordance  with 

(18) Whereas  common  tools  and  techniques  for  sectoral
network  applications  can,  inter  alia,  be  related  to
document  management  and  dissemination,  data
gathering,  multilingual  user  interfaces  and  security
of  electronic  communication;

(19) Whereas  cost-efficiency,  responsiveness,  flexibility
and  adaptability  to  technological  change  in  the
establishment  and  operation  of  such  networks  can
best  be  achieved  by  embracing  a  market-oriented
approach  and 
thus  selecting  suppliers  on  a
competitive  basis  in  a  multi-vendor  environment;

(26) Whereas  actions  have  been  carried  out  under
Council  Decision  95/468/EC  of  6  November  1995
on  a  Community  contribution 
telematic
interchange  of  data  between  administrations  in  the
Community  (IDA) (1);  whereas  the  Court  of  Justice
annulled  Decision  95/468/EC  on  28  May  1998;
whereas  the  effects  of  the  measures  taken  by  the
Commission  on  the  basis  of  this  Decision  before
annulment  by  the  Court  are  maintained;

for 

(1) OJ  L  269,  11.11.1995,  p.  23.

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(27) Whereas  a  financial  reference  amount,  within  the
meaning  of  point  2  of  the  Declaration  by  the
European  Parliament, 
the
Commission of 6 March 1995 (1), is included in this
Decision  without  thereby  affecting  the  powers  of
the  budgetary  authority  as  they  are  defined  by  the
Treaty,

the  Council  and 

Article  2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Decision, the following definitions
shall apply:

HAS  DECIDED  AS  FOLLOWS:

(a)

Article  1

Scope  and  objectives

The  Community 

1.
field  of
trans-European  telematic  networks  for  administrations
and  shall  take  the  measures  set  out  in  this  Decision  with
the  following  objectives:

shall  act 

the 

in 

network: 

comprehensive 

telematic 
data
a 
communication  system,  comprising  not  only  the
physical  infrastrucure  and  connections,  but  also  the
service and application layers which are built on top
of  this  infrastructure,  thus  enabling  the  interchange
of  information  electronically  between  organisations
and individuals;

(b) sectoral  network:  a 

trans-European 

telematic
network  for  administrations  or  set  of  services  and
applications,  devoted  to  the  implementation  or  the
administrative  support  of  one  particular  Community
policy,  activity  or  objective  which  is  hereinafter
referred  to  as  an  ‘administrative  sector’;

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

the  achievement  of  a  high  degree  of  interoperability,
within  and  across  different  administrative  sectors
and,  where  appropriate,  with  the  private  sector,
between  the  telematic  networks  established  in  the
Member States and between the Community and the
Member States in order to support the establishment
of  economic  and  monetary  union  and  to  implement
the  Community  policies  and  activities  referred  to  in
Articles  3  and  3a  of  the  Treaty  taking  into  account
work  already  underway  in  the  existing  Community
or  Member  State  programmes;

towards  a
the  convergence  of  such  networks 
common telematic interface between the Community
and  the  Member  States;

the  achievement  of  substantial  benefits  for  Member
the  Community  by
State  administrations  and 
streamlining  operations, 
reducing  maintenance,
speeding  up  implementation  of  new  networks  and
enhancements,  achieving  an  overall  secure  and
reliable 
the
cost-efficiency,
achievement 
responsiveness, 
to
technological  change  and  market  evolution  in  the
establishment  and  operation  of  such  networks;

interchange  of  data,  as  well  as 
greater 

of 
flexibility  and  adaptability 

the  extension  of  the  benefits  of  such  networks,  as
mentioned in the previous paragraph, to Community
industry  and  citizens  of  the  European  Union;

the promotion of the spread of best practice and the
encouragement  of  the  development  of  innovative
telematic  solutions  in  administrations.

(c) generic  services:  telematic  network  functionalities
which meet common user requirements, such as data
collection,  data  dissemination,  data  exchange,  and
security.  The  characteristics  of  each  service  shall  be
clearly  specified  and  associated  with  a  guaranteed
level  of  quality.

Article  3

Horizontal  actions  and  measures

1.
In  order  to  achieve  the  objectives  laid  down  in
Article  1,  the  Community  shall  undertake  horizontal
actions and measures, as provided for by Articles 4 to 10,
in  support  of  sectoral  networks  and  in  accordance  with
the  IDA  work  programme.

For  each  action  or  measure  envisaged  under  this
2.
Decision,  the  IDA  work  programme  shall  contain,  as
appropriate:

— a  complete  description  of  the 

intended  actions,
including 
their  objectives,  scope,  rationale  and
potential beneficiaries, as well as the anticipated costs
and  benefits,

— a  complete  description  of  the  functionalities  and  of

the  technical  approach

2.

This  Decision  forms  part  of  the  IDA  programme.

and

(1) OJ  C  102,  4.4.1996,  p.  1.

— a  detailed  plan  for  its  implementation,  specifying  the

individual  tasks  and  their  sequence.

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shall 

include 

Implementation  of  the  horizontal  actions  and
3.
measures 
and
demonstrations,  the  establishment  of  working  groups  of
Member  State  and  Community  experts,  and 
the
procurement  of  goods  and  services  for  the  Community,
as  appropriate.

feasibility 

studies 

4.
The  implementation  of  the  horizontal  actions  and
measures shall build on suitable results achieved by other
relevant  Community  activities, 
the
Community  research  and  technological  development
programmes  and  Community  activities  in  the  field  of
trans-European  telecommunication  networks.

in  particular 

5. Horizontal  actions  and  measures  shall  make
reference  to  European  standards  or  publicly  available
specifications,  such  as  open  Internet  standards,  as
appropriate, 
in  order  to  ensure  a  high  degree  of
interoperability  between  national  and  Community
systems within and across administrative sectors and with
the  private  sector.  Account  shall  be  taken  of  guidelines
and support tools in the area of standardisation in public
procurement 
communication
information  and 
technologies  (ICT)  systems  and  services.

for 

Article  4

Generic services

The  Community  shall  adopt  all  necessary  measures
1.
in order for a suitable choice of common generic services
that meet sectoral user requirements to be made available
to  sectoral  networks  on  a  competitive  basis 
in  a
multi-vendor  environment.  These  measures  shall  include
the  continuation  of  suitable  measures  undertaken  under
Decision  95/468/EC  as  appropriate.

2. With  the  aim  of  enabling  sectoral  network  users  to
identify their technical requirements and making available
the  suitable  choice  of  common  generic  services  that  meet
sectoral  user  requirements,  the  Community  shall,  in
particular:

(a) define  architecture  guidelines 

sectoral
networks designed to ensure interoperability between
the  various  physical  infrastructures  and  services;

the 

for 

(b) define  and  publish  the  specifications  of  the  generic
services  which  are  commonly  required  by  telematic
including  the
networks  between  administrations, 
quality  of  service  and  the  relevant  interoperability
requirements 
imposed  by  a  multi-vendor  and
competitive  environment;

(c)

and/or 

standard
identify 
interfaces  to  encourage  portability  and  replicability
of  application  developments;

appropriate 

specify 

(d) define  and  implement  a  mechanism  through  which
the  degree  of  interoperability  between  the  services
offered  by  the  telematic  service  providers  can  be
assessed  and  published;

(e) ensure 

a 

sustained 

common
requirements  and  a  continued  monitoring  of  the
telematics  services  offered  by  the  said  providers.

evolution 

of 

Article  5

Common  tools  and  techniques

The  Community  shall  ensure  that  common  tools  and
techniques for sectoral network applications are acquired
from  the  market  or  are  developed  if  the  market  cannot
appropriately  support  the  requirement  with  the  aim  of
reducing  the  overall  costs  associated  with  application
technical
development,  rationalising  and 
solutions,  decreasing 
the
for 
implementation  of  operational  systems,  and  streamlining
system maintenance.

improving 
required 

time 

the 

For  this  purpose,  the  Community  shall  identify  and
specify,  within  sectoral  networks,  fundamental  and
recurring  functionalities  which  can  form  the  basis  of
common  tools  and  techniques  or  modules.

It  shall  also  encourage  the  development  and  use  of  such
common  tools  and  techniques  and  modules  by  sectoral
networks;  in  particular,  the  spread  of  suitable  solutions
which  are  developed  within  a  sectoral  network  shall  be
ensured.

Article  6

Information  content  interoperability

information  which 

The  Community  shall  encourage  interoperability  in
1.
terms  of  the  content  of  the 
is
exchanged  within  and  across  administrative  sectors  and
with  the  private  sector.  For  this  purpose,  and  subject  to
the  legal,  security,  data  protection,  and  confidentiality
requirements  of  the  sectoral  users,  the  Community  shall
adopt  appropriate  measures  and, 
in  particular,  the
following:

(a)

support  for  the  efforts  of  the  administrations  of  the
interoperability,
Member  States  to  ensure  such 
simplify  administrative  procedures  and 
improve
information  flows;

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(b) coordination  of 

sectoral
networks  for  formatted  information  exchange,  and
the  ensuring  of  the  spread  of  suitable  solutions;

requirements  of 

the 

(c)

suitable 

of 
the 

technological
the  monitoring 
developments 
field  of  electronic  data
in 
communication,  including  innovative  data  collection
and  presentation  mechanisms,  investigation  of  their
impact  and  encouragement  of  their  adoption  by
sectoral  networks.

For 

2.
solutions
the  purpose  of  paragraph  1, 
facilitating  interoperability  between  different  message
formats  shall  be  preferred  to,  but  not  exclude,  the
development  of  harmonised  message 
formats.  Due
consideration  shall  be  given  to  the  linguistic  diversity  in
the  Community.

Solutions  allowing 
integrate
administrative requirements easily into business processes
shall  also  be  favoured.

the  private  sector 

to 

Article  7

Reference  legal  and  security  practices

Without  prejudice  to  the  competence  and  specific
obligations of the Member States in the areas covered by
this  Article,  the  Community  shall  contribute  to  the
identification  of  barriers 
the  smooth
exchange of data between network users and shall ensure
an  appropriate  degree  of  security  within  sectoral
networks.  In  particular,  the  Community  shall:

impede 

that 

(a)

identify,  in  cooperation  with  the  Member  States,
reference 
the
legal  and  security  practices 
trans-European 
interchange  of  data  between
administrations and between administrations and the
private  sector,  in  order  to  facilitate  a  common
approach;

for 

(b)

issue  appropriate  recommendations  to  support  the
efforts of the Member States to apply these practices
referred  to  in  (a)  within  their  own  administrative
environments;

(c) ensure,  with  regard  to  sectoral  networks  and  in
accordance  with  the  practices  referred  to  in  (a):  the
recognition,  within  the  administrative  environment
of the Community, of the evidential value of the data
exchanged;  the  establishment  of  a  methodology  for
the  protection  of  personal  data;  the  definition  of  the
the
rights  and 

responsibilities  of 

the  users; 

and
confidentiality, 
non-repudiation  of  the  information  exchanged,  as
well  as  measures  to  control  access  to  networks;

authentication 

integrity, 

(d)

identify  and  analyse  the  different  levels  of  security
depending  on  the  nature  and  purpose  of  sectoral
networks;

(e)

the  choice  and 

formulate  guidelines  and  provide  common  solutions
for 
tools;
components  and  systems  that  ensure  the  identified
levels  of  security.

implementation  of 

Article  8

Quality  assurance  and  control

shall 

define, 

implement, 

The  Community 
and
continuously  update  a  specific,  consistent,  integrated
quality  programme,  taking  into  account  the  results  of
similar  actions,  which  shall  apply  to  the  horizontal
actions  and  measures  under  this  Decision  and  to  the
projects 
under  Decision
No  . . ./1999/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the
Council  of  . . .  on  a  series  of  guidelines,  including  the
identification  of  projects  of  common 
for
trans-European networks for the electronic interchange of
data  between  administrations  (IDA) (1).  That  quality
programme  shall  include  the  necessary  actions  to:

common 

interest, 

interest 

of 

(a)

improve  the  manner  in  which  user  requirements  and
project  specifications  are  established;

(b)

improve  the  quality  of  project  deliverables,  both  in
terms  of  compliance  with  project  specifications  and
in  terms  of  satisfaction  of  user  expectations;

(c) ensure  that  the  experiences  gained  are  learning
experiences and are disseminated through the spread
of  best  practice  described  in  Article  10.

Article  9

Interoperability  with  national  and  regional  initiatives

In  implementing  the  IDA  programme,  the  Community
facilitate
shall 
endeavour,  where  appropriate, 
similar
interoperability  and  cross-fertilisation  with 

to 

(1) Common  position  (EC)  No  8/1999,  adopted  by  the  Council
on  21  December  1998  (see  page  1  of  this  Official  Journal).

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the
national  and 
interchange  of  data  between  administrations  within  the
Member  States.

initiatives 

regional 

relating 

to 

Article  10

Spread  of  best  practice

1.
The  Community  shall  ensure  coordination  and  the
exchange  of  views,  knowledge,  and  experiences  within
and across sectoral networks, with a view to encouraging
the  wider  adoption  of  good  and  innovative  solutions.

2.
Due  consideration  shall  be  given  to  the  linguistic
diversity in the Community. The Community shall ensure
general awareness of the achievements and benefits of the
IDA programme, the dissemination of IDA guidelines and
recommendations,  and 
coordination  of  user
the 
requirements and experiences with standardisation bodies
and  Community  standardisation-related  initiatives.

Article  11

Implementation

The  Commission  shall  implement  the  Community

1.
action  set  out  in  Articles  3  to  10.

The 

section  of 

IDA  work  programme
the 
2.
concerning  the  implementation  of  this  Decision,  which
the Commission shall draw up for its entire duration and
which  shall  be  reviewed  at  least  twice  a  year,  shall  be
approved,  based  on  its  compliance  with  the  relevant
provisions  of  Articles  3  to  10,  in  accordance  with  the
procedure  set  out  in  Article  12.

Article  12

Committee  procedures

1.
The  Commission  shall  be  assisted  by  a  committee
composed  of  the  representatives  of  the  Member  States
and  chaired  by  a  representative  of  the  Commission.  This
committee  shall  be  called  the 
‘Telematics  between
Administrations  Committee’  (TAC).

The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
committee  a  draft  of  the  measures  to  be  taken.  The
committee  shall  deliver  its  opinion  on  the  draft  within  a
time-limit  which  the  chairman  may  lay  down  according
to  the  urgency  of  the  matter.  The  opinion  shall  be
delivered  by  the  majority  laid  down  in  Article  148(2)  of
the  Treaty  in  the  case  of  decisions  which  the  Council  is
required  to  adopt  on  a  proposal  from  the  Commission.
The  votes  of  the  representatives  of  the  Member  States
within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set
out  in  that  Article.  The  chairman  shall  not  vote.

The  Commission  shall  adopt  measures  which  shall  apply
immediately.  However,  if  these  measures  are  not  in
accordance with the opinion of the committee, they shall
be  communicated  by  the  Commission  to  the  Council
forthwith.  In  that  event:

— the  Commission  shall  defer  application  of 

the
measures  which  it  has  decided  for  a  period  of  three
months  from  the  date  of  communication,

— the  Council,  acting  by  a  qualified  majority,  may  take
a different decision within the time-limit referred to in
the  previous  subparagraph.

The  Commission  shall  report  annually  to  the  TAC

2.
on  the  implementation  of  this  Decision.

The  common  rules  and  procedures  for  bringing
3.
about  technical  and  administrative  interoperability  shall
be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  set  out  in
Article 12.

4.
The procedure set out in Article 12 shall also apply
in respect of the approval of the breakdown of the yearly
budgetary  expenditure  under  this  Decision.  Proposals  for
any  budgetary  changes  of  more  than  EUR  250 000  per
project  line  within  a  year  shall  also  be  subject  to  this
procedure.

Article  13

Evaluation

The  Commission  shall,  in  coordination  with  the
the

1.
Member  States,  carry  out  an  evaluation  of 
implementation  of  this  Decision  at  two-yearly  intervals.

The  evaluation  shall  establish  the  progress  and
2.
current  status  of  the  horizontal  actions  and  measures
provided  for  in  this  Decision.

The technical specifications of calls for tender to be
5.
issued  in  the  implementation  of  the  Decision  shall,  for
contract  values  in  excess  of  EUR  500 000,  be  defined  in
coordination  with  the  Member  States.

It  shall  also  examine,  in  the  light  of  the  expenditure
incurred  by  the  Community,  the  benefits  yielded  by  such
horizontal  actions  and  measures  to  the  Community,  the

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Member  States,  Community  industry  and  citizens  of  the
European  Union,  and 
for  potential
improvement  and  verify  synergy  with  other  Community
activities 
trans-European
field 
in 
telecommunication  networks.

identify  areas 

the 

of 

3.
The Commission shall forward its evaluation to the
Council,  once  the  TAC  has  examined  it,  together  with
any  appropriate  proposal  for  the  amendment  of  this
Decision.  The  evaluations  shall  be  forwarded  no  later
than the draft budget for the years 2001, 2003 and 2005
respectively.

Article  14

Extension  to  the  EEA  and  associated  countries

1.
The  IDA  programme  may  be  opened,  within  the
framework  of  their  respective  agreements  with  the
European  Community,  to  participation  by  the  countries
of  the  European  Economic  Area  and  the  associated
countries  of  central  and  eastern  Europe  and  Cyprus  in
the  horizontal  actions  and  measures  under  this  Decision.

In 

the  curse  of 

2.
this  Decision,
cooperation  with  non-member  countries  and  with
international  organisations  or  bodies,  as  appropriate,
shall  be  encouraged.

implementing 

Article  15

Financial  reference  amount

The  financial  reference  amount  for  Community  action
under  this  Decision  for  the  period  1998—2000  shall  be
EUR  33,1  million.

Annual  appropriations  shall  be  authorised  by 
the
budgetary  authority  within  the  limit  of  the  financial
perspective.

Article  16

Entry  into  force

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of
the  European  Communities.  It  shall  enter  into  force  on
the  day  of  its  publication  and  shall  apply  until  . . . (*).

Done  at  . . ..

For  the  Council

The  President

(*) 31  December  of  the  fifth  year  after  the  entry  into  force  of

this  Decision.

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STATEMENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL’S  REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. On  16  December  1997,  the  Commission  submitted  a  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision
relating  to  interoperability  of  and  access  to  trans-European  networks  for  the  electronic
interchange  of  data  between  administrations  (IDA).

The  proposal  is  based  on  Article  129d,  third  paragraph  of  the  EC  Treaty.

2. The  European  Parliament  delivered  its  first-reading  opinion  on  18  November  1998.

The  Economic  and  Social  Committee  delivered  its  opinion  on  29  April  1998.

The  Committee  of  the  Regions  adopted  its  opinion  on  14  May  1998.

Further  to  the  European  Parliament’s  opinion,  the  Commission  submitted  an  amended
proposal  on  16  December  1998.

3. The  Council  adopted  its  common  position,  under  Article  189c  of  the  Treaty,  on

21  December  1998.

II. OBJECTIVE

This draft Decision, which accompanies a draft European Parliament and Council Decision
on  a  series  of  guidelines  for  trans-European  networks (1),  sets  out  a  series  of  horizontal
actions  and  measures  with  a  view  to  ensuring  interoperability  of  and  access  to
trans-European  networks  during  the  second  phase  of  the  IDA  programme.

III. ANALYSIS  OF  THE  COMMON  POSITION

A. General  comments

The  Council’s  common  position  is  in  line  with  the  objectives  and  the  content  of  the
Commission  proposal.

B. Specific  comments

1. P r i n c i p a l   c h a n g e s   m a d e   t o   t h e   C o m m i s s i o n   p r o p o s a l

Apart  from  the  changes  made  by  the  Council  to  ensure  consistency  with  the
modifications  made  to  the  Commission’s  proposal  on  guidelines  (e.g.  evaluation
period,  expiry  date,  comitology  etc.),  the  Council  also  considered  that  the  text
should  be  improved  in  the  following  ways:

(i) Scope  and  objectives  (Article  1)

The  Council  has  inserted  two  new  objectives:  (i)  convergence  of  networks
towards a common telematic interface; (ii) substantial benefits by streamlining
operations,  reducing  maintenance  etc.  and  achieving  an  overall  secure  and
reliable  interchange  of  data.

(1) See  page  1  of  this  Official  Journal.

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(ii) Horizontal  actions  and  measures  (Article  3)

The  Council  considered  that  for  the  efficient  management  of  the  programme,
the IDA work programme should contain detailed information about intended
actions,  functionalities  and  implementation  for  each  action  or  measure
envisaged  under  this  Decision.

(iii) Generic  Services  (Article  4)

Several  changes  to  paragraphs  1  and  2b  and  to  recital  (19)  have  been  made
with  a  view  to  ensuring  a  pro-competitive  environment  for  generic  services.

(iv) Common  tools  and  techniques  (Article  5)

The  text  of  the  first  paragraph  has  been  modified,  again  to  ensure  a  more
market-oriented  approach,  and  a  new  recital  has  been  added  to  clarify  the
scope  of  such  tools  and  techniques.

(v)

Information  content  interoperability  (Article  6)

The  Council  considered  it  important  to  include  a  reference  to  the  linguistic
diversity  of  the  Community  in  this  context  and  also  in  Article  10  (spread  of
best  practice).

(vi) Reference  legal  and  security  practices  (Article  7)

It  was  considered  useful  to  state  that  the  requirements  of  this  provision  were
without  prejudice  to  the  competence  and  specific  obligations  of  the  Member
States  and  to  clarify  some  of  the  wording,  such  as  model  legal  and  security
framework.  A  new 
ITSEC
recommendation  was  also  added  in  order  to  clarify  the  scope  of  this  article.

recital  containing  a 

reference 

the 

to 

(vii) Financial  framework  (Article  15)

In order to ensure transparency, the Council has inserted a new article which
gives  the  financial  framework  for  Community  action  for  the  period
1998—2000  and  an  accompanying  recital.

2. C o u n c i l   p o s i t i o n   o n   t h e   E u r o p e a n   P a r l i a m e n t ’ s   a m e n d m e n t s

(i) Amendments  included  in  the  common  position

The  Council  accepted  amendments  Nos  1  and  6  as  proposed  by  the  European
Parliament.

(ii) Amendments  not  incorporated  into  the  common  position

In  declining  to  include  amendments  Nos  2,  3,  5,  9  and  11  in  its  common
position,  the  Council  endorsed  the  Commission’s  position  as  set  out  in  its
amended  proposal.

As regards the remaining amendments, the Council was guided by the following
considerations:

— amendment No 4: the Council preferred not to retain this amendment as it
did  not  correspond  to  the  usual  formulation  relating  to  incorporation  of
financial  provisions  into  legislative  acts,  but  has  inserted  a  recital  which
reflects  the  same  principle,

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— amendment  No  7:  as  the  Council  has  already  inserted  a  reference  to
Member  States  administrations  and  the  Community,  the  concerns  of  the
Parliament  have  to  some  extent  already  been  taken  into  account,

— amendment  No  8:  this  point  has  already  been  addressed  in  the  common

position,

— amendment  No  10:  this  was  rejected  for  the  same  reasons  as  for

amendment  No  14  in  the  guidelines  Decision.