Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-03-Speech-3-145"
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"en.20000503.8.3-145"2
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"Mr President, could I first of all convey my thanks and compliments to the rapporteur, Mrs Palacio, for the way in which she has handled this matter. She has taken into account the importance of, and urgent need for, this directive, and she has cleared the way for the prompt and final approval thereof. On behalf of the Commission, I would like to express my great appreciation for the crucial role which Parliament, and the rapporteur in particular, have played in the negotiations on this directive. Mrs Palacio has spoken about a milestone in the development of the European Union. I think that she is right and it is indeed a lucky coincidence that this milestone should be reached a few days short of the fiftieth anniversary of Europe Day which will take place next Tuesday.
As a necessary step following on from all these efforts, the Commission will now commit itself, at Parliament’s request, to a swift and accurate transposition of the directive, taking into consideration the balance which has been struck between all the different interests and which undertakes to ensure that the directive is implemented correctly. This mainly applies to the country of origin principle which has been mentioned many times this evening, as well as the liability of intermediaries, which is also a very important aspect of this directive. In this connection, the Commission will be happy to meet Parliament’s request to issue guidelines for codes of conduct and to stimulate the establishment of effective procedures for notification and removal.
I would like to say a few words regarding the specific questions which have been raised by Members of your House. First of all, I would like to address a comment made by Mr Harbour regarding feedback. In answer to Mr Harbour’s remarks, I would like to say that the Commission plans to monitor the implementation of a feedback structure by the various Member States very closely. The Commission most definitely intends to encourage all interested parties to keep the Commission abreast of all the possible problems which could crop up. The Commission will be setting up a website with this goal in mind, thus enabling interactive exchange with all parties, with the intention of taking these remarks on board when this directive is up for review in three years’ time.
With regard to this review, Mr Lehne expressed the hope that it will take place under the mandate of this Commission. This Commission will still be within its mandate, at least if Parliament so wishes, because, as you are aware, the Commission as a whole is, of course, reliant on assent from this Parliament.
I will now move on to a question raised by Mrs Plooij who spoke about the way in which the different directives have to be aligned with each other. I would like to inform Mrs Plooij that the directive on copyright in the information society will be discussed during the forthcoming Internal Market Council, which will take place on 25 May. The Portuguese Presidency will make every effort to reach a common position during that Internal Market Council. One of the key topics which is still being discussed concerns the exemptions which can be made on copyright and, more specifically, exemptions for the benefit of technical copies, which are necessary to ensure that a free flow of data remains possible on the web. Needless to say, this point is very closely linked to the provisions of the
commerce directive which we are debating this evening, provisions which concern the liability of service providers. I would like to assure Mrs Plooij that the Commission is absolutely determined to ensure that both directives are brought into line with each other with regard to this important matter, in order to create legal certainty, which is needed both by parties entitled and service providers in the information society.
Finally, I would like to address a comment from Mr Karas. He has spoken about the trade in pharmaceutics. I would like to point out that the introduction onto the market of pharmaceutics by means of advertising and sale, etc. is bound by strict national and Community rules. Distance selling, particularly of pharmaceutics, is greatly restricted or even banned in certain Member States. Those restrictions also apply to selling via the Internet. Given the Internet’s global dimension, there is indeed a risk that Community legislation on advertising and sales of pharmaceutics via the Internet could be by-passed by companies based outside the European Union. The risk is there. This is why the Commission is now working together with the Member States to find solutions to this problem and to examine whether and on which points Community legislation is necessary in this field.
This concludes the remarks which I would like to make on behalf of the Commission at the end of this debate. I would once again like to convey my heartfelt thanks, first of all to the rapporteur, Mrs Palacio, and also to all the others who have taken part in this debate for their constructive attitude, as a result of which no further amendments were tabled at second reading. It has also facilitated the swift adoption of this directive, at least I assume so, because the vote is tomorrow, so that we can swiftly move on to the next stage and implement
commerce for the benefit of all EU economies.
Parliament’s approach to this directive and the effect Parliament has had on bringing about the common position could well serve as a model for future cooperation between the institutions. I will return to this in a moment, but on behalf of my staff, I would very quickly like to thank those Members of this House who have carried out the Commission’s work. I would like to thank those Members of this House who, in turn, have thanked the Commission for the work it has done. Once again, this is something which my staff will greatly appreciate and I am grateful to the Members for their comments.
I probably do not need to stress the urgency with which clear and flexible legislation is needed for
commerce within the European Union. This is legislation which will offer legal certainty to industry and the consumer. Rapid approval of this directive is vital in order to attain this goal. In fact, heads of government stressed this recently at the Lisbon Summit, as was pointed out by Mrs McCarthy, among others. The directive must ensure that the principles of the internal market also apply to the information society services and that small- and medium-sized businesses, in particular, can consider the entire European market as their home market. Many in this House, especially the rapporteur, Mrs Palacio, have emphasised this aspect for the benefit of small- and medium-sized businesses.
The Commission is therefore of the opinion that the directive will stimulate European integration and will, consequently, lead to greater economic growth, more investments in innovation and more jobs in Europe. It will also have a favourable effect on the European industry’s competitive position within the global market and this aspect too has been stressed by a number of Members in this House.
Furthermore, the directive strikes a very precise balance between all private and public interests involved. This has also been acknowledged by various MEPs. Mrs Wallis spoke of the right balance that has been struck and this was echoed by Mrs McCarthy.
Some Members are left feeling not completely satisfied. This is understandable. When the right balance is struck, this invariably means that one or other party cannot achieve its ambitions. Mr Lehne mentioned that he was not 100% satisfied and Mrs Wallis too has said that it is better to have what might be an imperfect directive with a review rather than none at all. This is, of course, true. As I said, I understand that not everybody can be happy when the right balance is struck. The French language captures this sentiment rather beautifully with the expression:
[You can’t please all of the people all of the time].
Parliament has not tabled any amendments and has thus paved the way for a swift approval. This is a wise and much appreciated decision taken by all major political groups. I too would like to express my appreciation for this. Parliament has been extremely sensible, if I may say so. The decision is justified, not only on account of the pressing nature of the directive, but also because the common position offers a sound and – I repeat – well-balanced compromise. This compromise is in line with the internal market’s direct approach, which received huge support at first reading and which was supplemented by Parliament.
Parliament tabled a number of amendments at first reading which proved to make a positive contribution to the common position and which elucidated and reinforced the Commission’s original proposal. Those amendments have been incorporated in the Commission’s amended proposal and subsequently in the common position. It should also be stressed that Parliament’s rapid approval of this directive without any further amendments was made possible thanks to the excellent cooperation between the rapporteur, the Finnish Presidency and the European Commission. This has also been highlighted by the rapporteur and the Commission is grateful for this.
In other words, the common position fully reflects the support which Parliament has given to the internal market approach at first reading. I think that we should, and can, learn from this close cooperation between Parliament, the Presidency and the Commission in order to accelerate the decision-making process in policy areas which fall under the codecision procedure. In my opinion, further consultation is necessary in order to find out how we can improve this approach in future."@en1
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"on ne peut pas contenter tout le monde et sa belle-mère"1
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