CELEX: 51998PC0349
Language: en
Date: 1998-05-29
Title: Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending for the third time Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                    Brussels, 29.05.1998
                                                    COM(1998) 349 final
                                                    96/0220 (COD)
                        OPINION OF THE COMMISSION
                pursuant to Article 189 b (2) (d) of the EC Treaty,
                     on the European Parliament's amendments
                  to the Council's common position regarding the
                                    proposal for a
           EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
   amending for the third time Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure
for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations
            AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
                   pursuant to Article 189 a (2) of the EC Treaty
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---  1. Background
 • On 24 July 1996 the Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive (together
     with a communication) designed to introduce a mechanism for the transparency
     of rules applying to information society services by amending
     Directive 83/189/EEC for a third time.1
• On 20 March 1997 the Economic and Social Committee endorsed the proposal.
• On 16 May 1997 Parliament adopted, at first reading and in accordance with the
     codecision procedure (Article 189b of the EC Treaty), a legislative resolution
     endorsing, subject to amendments contained in the resolution, the Commission's
     proposal and calling on the Commission to amend its proposal accordingly.
• On 17 November 1997 the Commission adopted, pursuant to Article 189b(2) of
     the EC Treaty, an amended proposal incorporating, in letter or in spirit, most of
     the amendments voted by Parliament at first reading.
• On 26 January 1998 the Council, acting pursuant to Article 189b(2) of the
     EC Treaty, adopted a common position on the proposal for a Directive.
• On 28 January 1998 the Commission adopted its communication on the Council
     common position and forwarded it to Parliament.
 • On 14 May 1998 Parliament adopted, at second reading, five amendments to the
     Council's common position.
2. Aim of the Commission proposal
 This proposal for a Directive is designed to introduce a system of information and
 consultation between the Commission and the Member States on future national
 regulatory initiatives relating specifically to information society services.
 These services are defined as services provided at a distance, by electronic means
 and at the individual request of a recipient of services.
 Preservation of the area without internal frontiers constituted by the internal market
 is an essential precondition for safeguarding and promoting the development of
 on-line interactive services, which offer great potential for investment, the growth
 and competitiveness of European industry, job creation and consumers.
  In extending to future draft national legislation on information society services the
 rules governing prior notification (with adoption of the national legislation initially
  postponed for three months) and consultation that currently apply to products under
  Directive 83/189/EEC, this Directive is specifically designed to ensure a stable,
  transparent and cohesive framework for stimulating the development of these "new"
COM(96) 392 final and OJ C 307, 16.10.1996.
                                              -2
 ---pagebreak--- services, based in particular on the internal market principles of free movement of
services and freedom of establishment.
3. Opinion of the Commission on the amendments proposed by Parliament
In its communication on the common position, the Commission stated that it could
accept the common position despite certain restrictions introduced by the Council on
the scope and operation of its proposal (without, however, altering the basic
substance), in view of the need for rapid definitive adoption and implementation of
the information and consultation procedure proposed.
The amendments to the common position which have been voted by Parliament at
second reading have the effect of clarifying and reinforcing some provisions of the
Directive, while confirming the substance of the text approved by the Council.
For this reason, and in the light of its amended proposal, which had already
incorporated a number of amendments adopted by Parliament at first reading and
presented again at second reading, the Commission can support all of Parliament's
amendments to the common position.
Amendment 1
A general consideration of this nature, which is consistent with the aims and
objectives of the Directive and with the requirement that the Commission present, in
due course, an evaluation report and, if necessary, proposals for a revision of the
Directive (Article 3), highlights the importance of keeping the development of
information society services under constant review and, if.need be, of taking future
initiatives to promote their development.
It reproduces amendment 18 adopted at first reading, which was incorporated into
the amended proposal.
Amendment 2
This amendment, which makes it possible to call upon the expertise of persons from
the industrial or academic world and, if possible, from representative bodies
regarding rules on new services, fits neatly into the operational framework of
Directive 83/189/EEC as it currently stands, which already provides for the
possibility of consulting experts from the private sector (Article 6(7)).
This possibility reproduces in a different form the substance of amendment 14
adopted at first reading, which was partly incorporated into the amended proposal.
Amendments 3 and 5
There are already several references to obstacles to the freedom of establishment in
the common position: in Article l(2)(c) (concerning Article 1(11) of
Directive 83/189/EEC), Article l(5)(a) (concerning the third indent of Article 9(2)
of Directive 83/189/EEC) and a number of recitals (Nos 8, 12 and 18).
                                          -3
 ---pagebreak--- These two amendments, therefore, merely supplement the references to obstacles to
the freedom of establishment in two specific provisions of the Directive and they are
consequently useful and relevant in terms of the legal consistency and precision of
the Directive's substantive provisions.
They correspond in full to amendments 15 and 17 adopted at first reading, which
were incorporated into the amended proposal.
Amendment 4
This amendment, which is confined to rules on services, provides that a
Member State which receives a detailed opinion must give reasons in cases where it
has not been able to take account of that opinion.
This amendment must be seen as a positive development since it confirms and spells
out the general obligation on each Member State to report on the detailed opinions it
receives in order to intensify the dialogue and enhance transparency between
Member States and the Commission: it underlines the spirit of cooperation that
should be displayed by the Member State directly concerned where there is a risk of
a problem arising in connection with the operation of the internal market.
                                           4-
 ---pagebreak---                                  Amended proposal
  for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending for the third time
Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in
                 the field of technical standards and regulations
                                            -5
 ---pagebreak--- COMMON POSITION                     AMENDMENTS BY PARLIAMENT
                              (Amendment 1)
Recital 27                          27.     Whereas the Commission will at
                                    regular intervals investigate developments
                                     in the market for new services in the liekl
                                     of the information society, especially in the
                                     framework of the convergence between
                                     telecommunications,               informati on
                                     technology     and    media     and, whe re
                                     necessary, take initiatives in order to adapt
                                     rules promptly in order to encourage the
                                     European development of new services;
                              (Amendment 2)
                            Article l(3a) (new)
                Article 6(7a) (new) (Directive 83/189/EEC)
3a                                    3a. The following new paragraph 7a shall
                                      be added to Article 6:
                                      "With respect to rules on services, the
                                      Commission and the Committee may
                                      consult natural or legal persons from
                                      industry or academia, and, where possible,
                                      representative bodies, capable of delivering
                                      an expert opinion on the social and societal
                                      aims and consequences of any draft rule on
                                      services and take notice of their advice
                                      whenever requested to do so."
                                      -6-
 ---pagebreak---                                           (Amendment 3)
                                             Article 1(4)
                    Article 8(1), sixth subparagraph (Directive 83/189/EEC)
4.    The sixth subparagraph of Article 8(1)      4.    The sixth subparagraph of Article 8( 1 )
      shall be replaced by the following:              shall be replaced by the following:
'"With      respect     to    the     technical   "With      respect     to    the    technical
specifications or other requirements or           specifications or other requirements or
rules on services referred to in the third        rules on services referred to in the third
indent of the second subparagraph of              indent of the second subparagraph of
point 11 of Article 1, the comments or            point 11 of Article 1, the comments or
detailed opinions of the Commission or            detailed opinions of the Commission or
 Member States may concern only aspects           Member States may concern only aspects
 which may hinder trade or, in respect of         which may hinder trade or, in respect of
 rules on services, the free movement of          rules on services, the free movement of
 services and not the fiscal or financial         services or the freedom of establishment of
 aspects of the measure."                         service operators and not the fiscal or
                                                  financial aspects of the measure."
                                           (Amendment 4)
                                           Article l(5(a)a)
                                Article 9(2) (Directive 83/189/EEC)
 (a)a                                             (a)a: The following sentence is added at the
                                                  end of point (a):
                                                  "With respect to rules on services, the
                                                  Member State concerned shall indicate
                                                  where appropriate the reasons why the
                                                  detailed opinions cannot be taken into
                                                  account, wherever this is the case."
                                           (Amendment 5)
                                            Article l(6)(b)
                        Article 10(1), sixth indent (Directive 83/189/EEC)
 (b) the sixth indent of paragraph 1 shall be     (b) the sixth indent of paragraph 1 shall be
       replaced by the following:                      replaced by the following:
 **- restrict themselves to amending a            "- restrict themselves to amending a
 technical regulation within the meaning of       technical regulation within the meaning of
  point 11 of Article 1, in accordance with a     point 11 of Article 1, in accordance with a
 Commission request, with a view to               Commission request, with a view to
  removing an obstacle to trade or, in the        removing an obstacle to trade or, in the
  case of rules on services, to the free          case of rules on services, to the free
  movement of services;"                          movement of services or the freedom of
                                                  establishment for service operators;"
                                                  -7
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                            COM(98) 349 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                16 15 06
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-359-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-36905-5
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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