2005/752/EC: Commission Decision of 24 October 2005 establishing an expert group on electronic commerce

26.10.2005 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 282/20
COMMISSION DECISION
of 24 October 2005
establishing an expert group on electronic commerce
(2005/752/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Whereas:
(1) In the framework of the Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce) (1), the Member States were asked to appoint one or several national contact points to enhance cooperation with other Member States (Article 19.2 of the Directive).
(2) Thereafter, the First Report on the application of Directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce (COM(2003) 702 final of 21 November 2003) in chapter seven envisaged that the Commission will now ‘focus on ensuring the practical functioning of administrative cooperation and the continuous exchange of information between the Commission and the Member States themselves’.
(3) Moreover, it is useful to give Member States the possibility to discuss problems in the application of the Directive on electronic commerce and emerging issues in the area of electronic commerce. It is also important to encourage and facilitate cooperation between them and the Commission. The Expert Group will thus provide a useful forum to exchange views on the practical implementation and application of the Directive, including information on codes of conduct drawn up by consumer and professional associations, codes of conduct on on-line advertising by regulated professions; national case law, especially related to the liability provisions; new developments mentioned in Article 21 of the Directive, such as liability of providers of hyperlinks and location tool services and ‘notice and take down’ procedures; and to discuss the possible scope of the subsequent evaluation reports on the application of the Directive on electronic commerce.
(4) Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (the Regulation on consumer protection cooperation) (2) establishes a network of public authorities responsible for the protection of consumers economic interests, partially harmonises their investigation and enforcement powers and provides mutual assistance arrangements between them. The provisions of Directive 2000/31/EC that protect consumers' economic interests enter within the scope of the Regulation. It is appropriate that the Committee set up for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 regularly informs the Expert group on electronic commerce about its activities which may be relevant for the latter,