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Counterfeiting and Piracy: report on Green Paper adopted
In general terms, counterfeiting means an infringement of an industrial property right while piracy means an infringement of copyright and related rights. On 28 March, the Legal Affairs Committee adopted the report by MEP Janelly Fourtou endorsing the Commission's Green Paper on 'Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy in the Single Market', which it felt was of fundamental importance for the future of undertakings and for the health and safety of consumers.
'Counterfeiting and piracy are not good for creativity and innovation. They harm the small businesses which create jobs and have innovative ideas'. The report also pointed out that it was necessary to break the increasingly close link between counterfeiting, piracy and organised crime.
The report called on the Commission:
Lastly, the report felt that negotiations on the accession of new member states and any trade negotiations with third countries should emphasise the priority accorded to the protection and effective exercise of intellectual property rights.
The report will be debated at the May plenary session.
Directive on Personal Data Protection: public access to documents refused
At EU level, the threat of possible abuse of personal data is being countered by two directives, namely Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 281 of 23.11.95, p.31) and Directive 97/66/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector (OJ L 24 of 30.01.98, p.1). However, neither of them applies to the EU institutions. Therefore, in September 1999, the Commission proposed to amend the European Directive on personal data.
On 21 March, the Legal Affairs Committee presented its draft opinion on protection of personal data. The committee asked the Committee on Citizens, as the committee responsible, to incorporate several amendments in its report.
With regard to questions relating to public access to documents, the Parliament has introduced an amendment - a new Article 3 Paragraph 3 (Amendment 2) where it says "questions relating to public access to documents shall be dealt with by a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents". The reasons for refusing access to documents should be dealt with exclusively in the Public Access Regulation, which is now awaiting vote in plenary.
Transparency: Draft Regulation on Public Access to Documents discussed
On 13 April, Jacob Söderman (European Ombudsman) and Romano Prodi discussed the draft regulation on public access to documents. Mr Söderman hoped that the proposal, which is now in the legislative process, will introduce changes in favour of greater transparency. He also criticised the large amount of discretion the draft leaves the institutions in requesting confidentiality for documents.
This regulation was proposed by the Commission in January aiming at granting citizens and residents of the Union the right of access to documents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The European Parliament's opinion on this draft regulation is expected in early July, the indicative date given by the Council and the Commission.
European Year of Languages 2001: programme adopted
On 13 April, the European Parliament adopted, at first reading, its resolution on the proposal for a European Year of Languages in 2001. A series of amendments were adopted by the Parliament:
Many of these amendments were agreed by Council and Commission in informal talks in order to have just one reading.
Culture 2000 Programme: published in the Official Journal
The Culture 2000 programme was approved last February and published in the Official Journal in March. It covers the period 2000 to 2004, with a budgetary allocation of Euro 167 million. It contains two annexes:
The Call for proposals and application forms for the year 2000 are now available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/culture2000_en.html
Research: results of IST Programme's second call for proposals
The DG Information Society received a total of 1138 proposals, in response to the second IST call for proposals, which closed on 17 January 2000. This amounts to a total requested Community contribution of some Euro 1.3 billion, in comparison to the indicative budget for the call of Euro 400 million. 217 proposals passed the evaluation thresholds and were given a priority ranking.
The co-ordinators of all proposals will be notified of their individual technical evaluation result in letters sent out from 13 March 2000. This feedback keeps proposers more closely informed of progress than was the case for the first call.
Negotiations began in mid-April 2000 and projects are expected to be signed and start work before the summer holidays. For further information, please visit http://www.cordis.lu/ist/home.html
Research: communication to be debated at next plenary session
On 10 April, the Commission's working group on the management procedures for the research framework programme submitted a report that proposed diverse measures to simplify and should also contribute to greater efficiency of the community's support for research. The report notes that a uniform procedure is too often applied to very diverse actions: research and development projects, grants, networks, accompanying measures, etc. The proposals argue for the improved implementation of specific programmes to be better targeted at major strategic activities, research activity support forms or to resort to other financial instruments which could be considered for the Sixth Framework Programme.
The Commission Communication to investigate ways of a better organisation of research in Europe and of putting forward suggestions for consideration and debate was presented in January 2000. The communication is awaiting vote in plenary, which is expected on 9 May.
Socrates II: User guide is now available
The SOCRATES programme addresses a wide range of people and institutions at all levels of education (see section 3.2 of the Guidelines for Applicants). In order to identify relevant actions, please refer to: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates/particip.html
G8 - Education: Ministers decide to step up co-operation
On 2 April, Education Ministers of the G8 and Ms Reding, the European Commissioner for Education met in Tokyo and Okinawa at the invitation of the G8 Japanese Presidency. Proposals have been submitted to the heads of state and government, who are to meet next July, for adapting our education systems to the new economy. The European Union can offer its G8 partners its experience, notably on the issue of mobility, but it can also learn from them, especially about the use of new technologies in education. They agreed on the following points:
Electronic Commerce: ''e-confidence forum'' proposed
The European Commission has proposed to set up an on-line forum to promote the rapid and effective resolution of e-commerce disputes, without the need for legal action. The proposed "e-confidence forum" is targeted at businesses and consumers wishing to buy goods or services on the Internet (particularly from other countries) and it aims at assisting co-ordination between different initiatives to promote rapid and effective redress mechanisms to resolve, at low cost and without legal procedures, potential problems encountered by target groups.
The on-line forum was endorsed by participants at a recent ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Workshop organised by the Commission in Brussels. The Commission eEurope Initiative identified the rapid deployment of ADR schemes as an essential element in creating consumer confidence in electronic commerce. Current Commission initiatives to encourage the development of ADRs include possible co-financing of pilot projects to deploy cross-border online dispute settlement systems in the context of either the IST Research Programme or the TEN-Telecom Programme.
EU-Mercosur: future framework agreement
A future agreement between the European Union and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) will expand the scope of the Interregional Framework Co-operation Agreement signed in December 1995. The main objective of this provisional agreement was to pave the way for the setting-up of an interregional political and economic association. It is open to future developments and seeks to promote close relations between the two regional integration processes in the political, economic, commercial, industrial, scientific, technological, institutional and cultural fields.
In September 1999 the EU Council approved negotiating directives allowing negotiations on the conclusion of this association to proceed during the first half of 2000. Three sub-working groups have been formed:
EC/Switzerland: scientific and technological co-operation agreement
On 18 April 2000, the European Parliament Committee for Research and Industry adopted the recommendation proposing that Parliament give its assent to the conclusion of the seven 'package' agreements between the European Community and its Member States and the Swiss Confederation relating to the free movement of persons, air transport, rail and road transport, scientific and technological co-operation, public procurement, agricultural trade and mutual recognition in relation to conformity assessment.
The initial proposal (May 1999) by the Commission proposed an agreement regarding scientific and technological co-operation aimed at facilitating the participation of this country in the EC and Euratom 5th Framework Programmes for RTD (1998-2002).
The Council has sent it to the European Parliament for approval, expected in May 2000.
Information Policy: communication before summer
On 14 April plenary session, the shift in the information strategy announced by the Commission was debated. Commissioner Viviane Reding stated that in the past there was a trench between the citizens and the institutions and that it is necessary to focus on the public, youth, local, regional and national representatives as the general public had a poor awareness of the activity and opportunities of the EU, this being reflected in an increasingly sceptical attitude towards further European integration.
There was a general welcome from members for this new strategy. However, MEP Perry believed that some SOCRATES money could be spent on the information strategy. He also considered that the EU website should be better known. MEPs Bohm and MacCormick stressed the need for a regional dimension of information policy.
Commissioner Reding announced to the European Parliament the Commission's intention to present a communication on the new information policy before the summer, based on the implementation by all the institutions, decentralisation, proximity and the greater involvement of all social sectors. This announcement is a response to an oral question by MEPs Andreasen, De Clercq and Sanders-ten-Holte on the information and communication strategy of the EU.
Information Society: Internet management recommendations
On 11 April, the European Commission presented a series of key recommendations intended to improve the future operation of the Internet. These focus on the way the Internet's infrastructure - including the dot.com or dot.gov system of domain names (tools through which individuals and businesses communicate across the Internet) and the Internet Protocol (IP) addressing system - is co-ordinated internationally. This Communication to the Council and Parliament is the latest sign of the European Commission's determination to give business and citizens access to a cheap, world-class communications infrastructure. Getting the right framework for the Internet is central to the Commission's overall strategy for an eEurope.
Some of the Commission's key recommendations are:
Several important developments concerning the organisation and management of the Internet are taking place. For instance, ICANN has endorsed the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) guidelines for dispute resolution in case of domain names and trademarks. The Commission launched a consultation process on the creation of the new Internet Top Level Domain: dot.EU.
IST Programme: Key Action 'Multimedia, content and tools' moves
CORDIS is the new host for ''Digital heritage and cultural content'', key action III (KA III) of the IST programme. KA III aims at developing future information products and services, enabling linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe, and enhancing education and training systems for lifelong learning. Further information can be found at http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka3/digicult/home.html
The process of transferring information has just begun. Information on the latest additions will be made available on the home page http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka3/, however users who require information not currently available should contact the IST Helpdesk.
Internal Market: strategy over the next five years
On 13 April, the report by MEP Ana Palacio Vallelersundi was adopted by the Parliament. The Legal Affairs Committee supported both the method and the objectives laid down by the Commission. It particularly welcomed the Commission's choice of a working method based on precise target actions with agreed deadlines, which could be reviewed and if necessary adjusted.
The report urged the Commission to put greater emphasis on monitoring Member States' progress in implementing single market rules. A number of recommendations are also aimed at cutting red tape and improving dialogue with business. The report put forward various proposals on electronic commerce; it called in particular for work on the simplification of the VAT system and its application to e-commerce to be speeded up. The Commission was also urged to make rapid progress on the creation of a European network of alternative dispute resolution systems (ADR), in particular for online transactions, which would provide consumers with a real chance of obtaining legal redress. This was crucial in order to increase consumer confidence in e-commerce while not preventing small businesses from opening Internet trading sites.
This strategy covers the period 2000-2004 and its objectives are laid down in four areas: citizens, markets, business environment and external aspects. Further information on the internal market strategy can be found at http:// europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/update/strategy/index.htm
Lisbon Summit: Presidency and Commission report on outcomes
At the Lisbon Summit, EU leaders agreed to complete specific commitments to liberalise the telecom section. Member states have also stepped up their commitment to education and training by, for example, doubling the numbers of 18-24 year-olds by the year 2010 receiving some form of future education and laying down guidelines on new skills for lifelong learning.
More emphasis is to be placed on research and development, with innovation to be promoted through the introduction of a new EU-wide patent by the year 2002, a high-speed trans-European electronic data network and a European innovation "scoreboard" in place by June 2001. Economic co-operation is to be improved with more public spending directed towards R&D, state aid is to be reduced and a reform of the tax and social security system introduced to encourage work.
The Commission is proceeding with fulfilling the different mandates it received in Lisbon covering in particular, the Action Plan for e-Europe; the European Area of Research and Innovation; Internal Market; education and training: e-learning, "Towards a new European social agenda" and future evolution of social protection,etc.
The Council, when preparing the Feira European Council at its session of 13 June, will have an opportunity to assess the progress of work with regard to these matters in the different Council formations.
Research: French and Dutch Aid for ITEA
The Commission has authorised the French and Dutch aid for the ITEA research programme (Information Technology for European Advancement). ITEA, part of the EUREKA programme, aims at promoting industrial research in the computing sector and developing technologies. France will contribute Euro 274 million and the Netherlands Euro 95 million to this programme which has a budget of Euro 3.2 billion until June 2007.
Quelle: EBLIDA Hot-news, April 2000
EBLIDA - European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations, Head Office, P.O.Box 43300, 2504 AH The Hague (The Netherlands). Tel.: +31 70 3090608, Fax: +31 70 3090708. E-Mail: eblida@nblc.nl, URL: http://www.eblida.org
