Directive 98/48/EC - EUR-Lex

5. 8. 98EN Official Journal of the European Communities L 217/19need for a coordinated approach at Community levelwhen questions relating to activities with such highlytransnational connotations as those of the newservices are dealt with;(10) Whereas, in the case of telecommunications services,there is already harmonisation at Community levelor, in some cases, arrangements for mutual recognition,and whereas the existing Community legislationprovides for adaptations to take account of technologicaldevelopments and the supply of new servicesand, as a result, the majority of national regulationsconcerning telecommunications services will not besubject to notification under this Directive since theywill come under the exemptions set out in Article10(1) or Article 1 point 5 of Directive 98/34/EC;whereas, nevertheless, certain national provisionsspecifically aimed at matters which are not subject toCommunity legislation may affect the free movementof Information Society services and to thatextent they must be notified;(11) Whereas, for the other still little known fields of theInformation Society, it would, however, be prematureto coordinate national rules and regulations bymeans of extensive or exhaustive harmonisation atCommunity level of the substantive law, given thatenough is not yet known about the form the newservices will take or their nature, that there is as yetat national level no specific regulatory activity in thisfield, and that the need for, and content of, suchharmonisation in the light of the internal marketcannot be defined at this stage;(12) Whereas it is therefore necessary to preserve thesmooth functioning of the internal market and toavert the risks of refragmentation by providing for aprocedure for the provision of information, theholding of consultations, and administrative cooperationin respect of new draft rules and regulations;whereas such a procedure will help, inter alia, toensure that the Treaty, in particular Articles 52 and59 thereof, is effectively applied and, where necessary,to detect any need to protect the general interestat Community level; whereas, moreover, theimproved application of the Treaty made possible bysuch an information procedure will have the effect ofreducing the need for Community rules to what isstrictly necessary and proportional in the light of theinternal market and the protection of general-interestobjectives; whereas, lastly, such a procedure willenable businesses to exploit the advantages of theinternal market more effectively;(13) Whereas Directive 98/34/EC pursues the same objectivesand whereas this procedure is effective, beingthe most comprehensive one for attaining theseobjectives; whereas the experience that has beengained in implementing that Directive and theprocedures provided for therein can be applied todraft rules on Information Society services; whereasthe procedure it lays down is now well establishedamong national authorities;(14) Whereas, moreover, in accordance with Article 7a ofthe Treaty, the internal market comprises an areawithout internal frontiers in which the free movementof goods, persons, services and capital isensured and whereas Directive 98/34/EC providesonly for an administrative cooperation procedure andnot for any harmonisation of substantive rules;(15) Whereas, therefore, amendment of Directive 98/34/EC with a view to applying it to draft rules and regulationson Information Society services is theapproach best suited, with regard to the legal frameworkof the said services, to meeting effectively theneed for transparency in the internal market;(16) Whereas notification should be provided for notablyin the case of rules which are likely to evolve infuture; whereas services which are provided at adistance, electronically, and at the individual requestof a recipient of services (Information Society services)are likely, in view of their diversity and theirfuture growth, to necessitate and generate the largestnumber of new rules and regulations; whereas provisionmust accordingly be made for the notification ofdraft rules and regulations relating to such services;(17) Whereas specific rules on the taking-up and pursuitof service activities which are capable of beingcarried on in the manner described above shouldthus be communicated even where they are includedin rules and regulations with a more general purpose;whereas, however, general regulations which do notcontain any provision specifically aimed at suchservices need not be notified;(18) Whereas ‘rules on the taking-up and pursuit ofservice activities’ means rules laying down requirementsconcerning Information Society services, suchas those relating to service providers, services andrecipients of services and to economic activitiescapable of being provided electronically, at a distanceand at the individual request of the recipient of theservices; whereas, for example, rules on the establishmentof service providers, in particular those onauthorisation or licensing arrangements, are accordinglycovered; whereas a provision specificallyaimed at Information Society services must be con-