Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-03-Speech-3-140"
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"en.20000503.8.3-140"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I too want to begin by congratulating the rapporteur on her report and her strategy. I welcome her recommendation that we should not suggest any amendments to the common position. All current surveys show the great economic potential of electronic business. The previous speakers have already described that in graphic terms, so I need not go into the subject or this aspect of it again.
Europe continues to trail behind the USA in e-business. Yet we have a real chance to catch up. Europe is presently seeing a wave of Internet companies being set up. We must give political support to this trend. We must also encourage stronger competition on the local telephone markets to make Internet connection cheaper. In this context, let me also give special thanks to the Commission, to Mr Bolkestein and his colleague, Mr Liikanen, who has also done an excellent job here with the TC package he forwarded to us in Parliament a few months ago. Many thanks! I think that means we have a very good policy in that area as well.
At European level, the creation of the European single market and the introduction of the euro are certainly decisive factors in the promotion of electronic business. Furthermore, e-business will be encouraged tomorrow when we adopt a legal framework for electronic commerce in the European Union. That will send out a clear signal. It will show that Europe is open and is able to promote the Internet as a new form of communication and commerce. I believe it is also a good signal in terms of attracting foreign investment.
On the content of the directive, I just want to emphasise one key point which some of the previous speakers have also addressed. It is the question of the regulations that a web trader has to comply with for cross-border transactions. Here the regulation provides that what is known as the principle of the country of origin should apply. That means that a service provider is subject only to the control and the legal system of the Member State in which he is established. The aim is to prevent him from having to comply with the different legal provisions of all the countries in which his clients may reside. That saves him a considerable financial outlay in these transactions.
However, it also creates a new situation, to which industry and national legislators will have to adjust. Divergent rules in the Member States, on advertising, for instance, will mean that Internet providers in the European Union are treated differently. That is why we need changes to the law and more far-reaching harmonisation in some respects. In Germany, for example, we may well have to abolish the law on discounts and the regulations on free gifts.
I am glad the directive also contains a review clause. I would ask the Commission to take that very seriously. We in Parliament will, of course, follow developments in e-business closely and give appropriate support to any Commission proposals for a revision of the directive in a few years’ time."@en1
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