CELEX: 51988PC0003
Language: en
Date: 1988-02-04
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL OF THE DECISION CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT AT COMMUNITY LEVEL OF A POLICY AND A PLAN OF PRIORITY ACTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INFORMATION SERVICES MARKET

4.2.88                                  Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 30/7
                                                               II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                  COMMISSION
             Amended proposal for a Decision concerning the establishment at Community level of a policy
                  and a plan of priority actions for the development of an information services market (')
                                                      COM(88) 3 final/2
                               (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 7 January 1988)
                                                         (88/C 30/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES                            of a Community policy which is designed to tackle on a
                                                                   broad front the complex, diverse and overlapping
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              questions arising out of the evolution of the information
                                                                   market;
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100A
thereof,
                                                                   Whereas it is recognized that information plays a role of
                                                                   fundamental importance in the development of trade and
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                   industry, giving strength and coherence to the European
                                                                   economy as a whole, as well as being an essential
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                       component both of the cultural identity of the
                                                                   Community and of the fabric of a modern society;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                  Whereas the rapid development and convergence of new
                                                                   technologies has led to considerable difficulties in
                                                                   defining the exact scope of the information market
Whereas it is essential to adopt measures for the gradual          sector;
establishment of the internal market during the period up
to 31 December 1992; whereas the internal market
comprises an area without internal frontiers in which the          Whereas fuller statistics on the Community information
free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is           market are vitally needed to match those for more
                                                                   traditional sectors;
ensured;
                                                                   Whereas, by virtue of the economic importance of infor-
Whereas the Community programme on the specialized                 mation, the creation of a common information services
information market (OJ No L 314, 4. 12. 1984) has                  market occupies an essential place in the achievement of
revealed that a much more comprehensive Community                  the internal market by the end of 1992;
information market policy is necessary;
                                                                   Whereas there exist numerous technical, administrative
Whereas the Heads of State and of Government,                      and legal barriers to the creation of an internal market
meeting at the European Council in Brussels on 29 and              for information, which are hindering the development of
30 March 1985, approved the creation of a Community                new services and causing unacceptable distortions of
information market as a specific objective;                        competition;
Whereas the Council on 18 March 1986 gave a                        Whereas simplification of procedures as well as harmon-
favourable reception to the communication from the                 ization in the field of access to databases should both
Commission comprising a work programme for creating                have a high priority in a Community information market
a common information market;                                       programme;
Whereas the Commission, having consulted represen-                 Whereas the development of information resources and
tatives of users and suppliers of information services as          information-based services requires the application of new
well as the Senior Officials Advisory Group on the infor-          technologies and the achievement of economies of scale;
mation market, has been able to draw up an agreed
definition of the principal objectives and lines of action         Whereas the Community has a strong competitive
                                                                   position in some areas of the information market, but is
(') OJ No C 249, 17. 9. 1987, p. 5.                                much weaker in others;
 ---pagebreak---  No C 30/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                       4.2. 88
Whereas the Community's competitive weaknesses, and                                           Article 2
 dependence on third countries, in some areas of the infor-
mation market has considerable potential costs, in                 In order to attain the objectives referred to in Article 1
financial and strategic terms;                                     the following actions shall be undertaken under the
                                                                   responsibility of the Commission:
Whereas public authorities in the Member States are
carrying out to a varied extent different activities in the        — the establishment of a European information market
domain of the information market;                                      observatory, to provide fuller statistics, and to identify
                                                                       the European Community competitive strengths and
                                                                       weaknesses in the sector;
Whereas the growing importance of information in inter-
national transactions, and of the related problems
concerning services, is receiving increasing attention in         — presentation to the Council of proposals which will
international forums and this fact serves to emphasize                 aim at eliminating legal, administrative, fiscal and
the necessity for Member States to develop common                      other technical barriers, to the establishment of an
positions in those forums;                                             information market;
Whereas the needs and legitimate demands of users of
information services and particularly of those in small           — the improvement of the conditions for transmitting
and medium-sized enterprises and in the less-favoured                  and accessing information services, through greater
regions of the Community merit special attention;                      standardization and simplification;
Whereas the needs of developing countries for low-cost            — the preparation of initiatives concerning the role of
access to information should also be borne in mind;                    the public sector in the information market;
Whereas the Community already possesses potentially
                                                                  — the launching of pilot and demonstration projects
useful instruments for the implementation of the above
                                                                       which will act as catalysts for the development of a
policy;
                                                                       European market;
Whereas the Community's financial               engineering
mechanisms may contribute to the implementation of the            — the preparation of a specific action in favour of
present action plan, in particular with regard to the pilot            libraries;
and demonstration projects designed to exert a catalytic
effect on the development of the information services
market;                                                           — the reinforcement of user support activities and the
                                                                       launching, in coordination with the Member States,
                                                                       of a campaign to promote the wealth and quality of
Whereas an information market policy is complementary                 European information services available on the
to other ongoing Community initiatives, notably in the                market;
field of telecommunications,
                                                                  — the preparation of guidelines on the principles
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:                                            governing tarification, aimed at a much greater
                                                                      approximation of tariffs throughout the Community,
                                                                      if possible on a distance-independent basis;
                          Article 1
Approval is hereby given to the objectives and broad
lines of the plan of action proposed by the Commission            — the preparation of measures to help small and
with the following aims:                                              medium enterprises to derive the maximum possible
                                                                      benefit from the information services market;
— to set up an internal information services market by
    the end of 1992;                                              — the preparation of special initiatives for the less-
                                                                      developed and peripheral regions of the Community.
— to stimulate and reinforce the competitive capability
    of European suppliers of information services;
                                                                                             Article 3
— to promote the use of advanced information services
    in the Community;                                             The action plan described in Article 2 shall be
                                                                  implemented in two phases, the first of which shall last
— to reinforce joint efforts to achieve the internal and          two years, beginning with the date of adoption of this
    external cohesion of the Community with respect to            Decision, and shall constitute an introductory phase
    information services.                                         designed to intensify cooperation between the different
 ---pagebreak--- 4.2.88                                      Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 30/9
parties concerned and to test the feasibility of a number                                       Article 5
of pilot and demonstration projects.
                                                                       During the second half of 1989, the Commission shall
                                                                       transmit to the Council and to the European Parliament
                           Article 4                                   an evaluation report on the results obtained during the
The amount deemed necessary for the implementation of                  introductory phase and shall present, on the basis of
the introductory phase is 20 million ECU for 1989 and                  those results, guidelines for the continuation of actions
25 million ECU for 1990.                                               until 1992.
                                                                       Beginning in 1988, the Commission shall also transmit to
Part of the amount deemed necessary, that used to                      the Council and the European Parliament an annual
finance pilot and demonstration projects, may serve in                 report on the most important events and developments
particular to bring to bear, as appropriate, additional                taking place in the information market.
sources of finance emanating from interested partners,                                          Article 6
thus multiplying its effect on the development of the
European information services market.                                  This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
             Amended proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations and
                     administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products (')
                                                          COM(87) 728 final
             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 149 of the
                                                   EEC Treaty on 13 January li
                                                             (88/C 30/08)
             In response to the opinion delivered by the European Parliament on the proposal for a
             Directive transmitted by the Commission to the Council on the approximation of the laws of
             the Member States relating to construction products ('), and in accordance with the third
             paragraph of Article 149 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, the
             Commission has decided to amend the aforementioned proposal as follows:
              1. The first recital is replaced by the following:
                 'Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in
                 particular Article 100A thereof,'
             2. Paragraph 1 of Article 21 is amended as follows:
                 'If a Member State finds, on the basis of a reasoned justification, that a product, even
                 though in conformity with the provisions of this Directive, presents a danger for safety or
                 health, or conflicts with other requirements in the general interest, within the meaning of
                 Article 2 (2), it may temporarily prohibit it or subject its marketing and use to special
                 conditions. It shall immediately inform the Commission and the other Member States,
                 stating the reasons for its decision.'
             (') O J N o C 9 3 , 6. 4. 1987, p. 1.