WRITTEN QUESTION E-1722/99 by Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (PSE) to the Commission. Consumer protection on the internet.
Date: 1999-09-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Internet, codification of EU law, computer piracy, confidentiality, consumer protection, copyright, exchange of information, industrial counterfeiting

C 303 E/10

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

24.10.2000

ity funding of the stability pact is still to be determined but will be directed by the guidelines for
Community participation in the activities of the stability pact and its bodies adopted by the Council
in September 1999. Commission funding for projects submitted to the stability pact
is still to be
determined, but will be directed by the guidelines for Community participation in the activities of the
stability pact and its bodies adopted by the Council in September 1999 as well as the conditions which
apply, under the regional approach stabilisation and association process to the use of Community funds in
the countries of the region.

The Commission has not omitted environmental issues from any of the measures mentioned. Council
Regulation (EC) No 851/98 of 20 April 1998 amending Regulation (EC) No 1628/96 relating to aid for
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (3) (Obnova), clearly covers environmental issues linked to reconstruction, economic recovery
and development. This has not been changed by the current proposal to amend this Regulation (4), which
is designed to establish a reconstruction agency for Kosovo, nor will any future proposal to amend the
regulation change the current situation as regards environmental issues. The stabilisation and association
agreements will cover all issues of concern in Community relations with the country in question and
therefore will also cover environmental aspects. Environmental damage in Kosovo is specifically mentioned
in the Commission(cid:146)s communication (5) on this subject. The stability pact will also cover issues such as the
environment, which is regional by nature.

The Commission is unaware of any claims for compensation from Community undertakings. As NATO
undertook the action, rather than the Union, compensation claims against the Union or the Commission
would be difficult to imagine. In the absence of new instructions from the Council, special aid is governed
through the existing framework of Community instruments.

(1) OJ C 203, 18.7.2000, p. 2.
(2) Debates of the European Parliament (September 1999).
(3) OJ L 122, 24.4.1998.
(4) COM(1999) 312 final.
(5) COM(1999) 235 final.

(2000/C 303 E/009)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1722/99

by Marie-Noºlle Lienemann (PSE) to the Commission

(29 September 1999)

Subject: Consumer protection on the internet

All European countries have, to a greater or lesser extent, had to examine problems relating to consumer
protection on the internet, infringements of copyright, piracy, forging and the confidentiality of commu-
nication.

Would it not be useful and, indeed, preferable for a European directive to be adopted in order to introduce
such protection rules throughout Europe?

Is the Commission prepared to make appropriate proposals? If so, when?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(17 November 1999)

The Honourable Member is asking whether European directives address issues such as consumer
protection, copyright, piracy, counterfeiting and data protection on the Internet. Indeed, the Community
has a comprehensive set of Community legal instruments dealing with these issues already adopted or in
the process of being negotiated.

24.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 303 E/11

As regards consumer protection Directive 97/7/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997
on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts (1), Council Directive 93/13/EEC, of 5 April
1993, on unfair terms in consumer contracts (2), the amended Council Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 Sep-
tember 1984 relating to the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Member States concerning misleading advertising (3),
the amended Council Directive 87/102/EEC of
22 December 1986 for the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Member States concerning consumer credit (4), Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package
travel, package holidays and package tours (5); Directive 98/6/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of
16 February 1998 on consumer protection in connection with the indication of the prices of products
offered to consumers (6); Directive 98/43/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 1998 on the
approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member states relating to the
advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products (7) and Council Directive 92/28/EEC of 31 March 1992
on the advertising of medicinal products for human use (8) all are fully applicable to information society
services.

Also Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the
protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such
data (9) and Directive 97/66/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 concerning the
processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector (10) are fully
applicable to information society services.

Directive 98/84/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 1998 on the legal protection of
services based on, or consisting of, conditional access (11), addresses the problem of piracy of information
society services.

In the area of copyright and related rights, a number of directives have been adopted which are of
relevance to the on-line environment. In this context, particular reference should be made to Directive
91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programmes (12) and to Directive 96/9/
EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases (13).

The Commission has furthermore adopted proposals for Parliament and Council directives which are
currently being negotiated in the areas of harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights
in the information society (14); a common framework for electronic signatures (15); the distance marketing
of consumer financial services (16); certain legal aspects of electronic commerce in the internal market (17).
These proposals aim at complementing the already existing legal Community framework applicable to
information society services and deal with issues addressed by the Honourable Member.

Finally the Commission is undertaking work on counterfeiting and has in this respect published the green
paper on combating counterfeiting and piracy in the single market (18) on which the opinion of the
Parliament is still awaited.

(1) OJ L 144, 4.6.1997.
(2) OJ L 95, 21.4.1993.
(3) OJ L 250, 19.9.1984.
(4) OJ L 42, 12.2.1987.
(5) OJ L 158, 23.6.1990.
(6) OJ L 80, 18.3.1998.
(7) OJ L 213, 30.7.1998.
(8) OJ L 113, 30.4.1992.
(9) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995.
(10) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998.
(11) OJ L 320, 28.11.1998.
(12) OJ L 122, 17.5.1991.
(13) OJ L 77, 27.3.1996.
(14) OJ C 180, 25.6.1999.
(15) OJ C 325, 23.10.1998.
(16) OJ C 385, 11.12.1998.
(17) OJ C 30, 5.2.1999.
(18) COM(98) 569 final.