Brussels, 06/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - Qatar will approve "peaceful demonstrations" on the fringe of the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to which the Emirate will play host, next autumn. The authorities stated this through the press, whereas the Union was seeking complementary assurances in Geneva to respond to all "the legitimate expectations of civil society".
According to the Minister of Finance and the Economy, Youssef Hussein Kamal, Qatar is in favour of freedom of expression as long as it comes within a "peaceful framework". He then adds, in the same statement, reported by the national and Arab press over the weekend, that "nobody will be permitted to enter the country for the purpose of demonstrating". Around the same time, the Union was approaching the organisers of the ministerial meeting to ensure that representatives of civil society would have "full, fair and effective" access to the event. "I am writing to you to underpin the importance we attach" to this aspect. "Our support for Qatar is based on our feeling that these interests will be respected", wrote the head of the European delegation in Geneva, Carlo Trojan, in a letter dated 1 February. The undertakings already made by Qatar "are useful but further discussions will obviously be needed to see how exactly to respond to the other legitimate expectations of civil society", he stipulated.
(EU) EU/ELECTRONIC COMMERCE/FINANCIAL SERVICES: Commission must adopt Communication on integration of financial services
Brussels, 06/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission must adopt, in the coming days, a Communication on electronic commerce and financial services in which it outlines its strategy to achieve the aim set by the Lisbon Summit of creating in 2005 a European market for integrated financial services. The adoption of the text, initially foreseen for Tuesday and postponed to Wednesday, is presently delayed by a "translation problem". In an internal document, the Commission underlines that the need to "create an environment, which allows to develop electronic commerce in the sector of financial services and to reassure consumer confidence."
The Commission bases its approach on the principal of country of origin (clause known as "internal market"), in virtue of which the commercial rules applied to cross border sales of financial services should be that where the Member State or the supplier of services is established. This general principal is included in the Directive on electronic commerce, but it provides a certain number of exemptions, submitting, among others, cross border electronic commerce to a separate system to that which applies to distance selling. For the time being, the national rules continue to apply to this type of transaction. Among the Member States, France and Belgium expressly want to maintain this status quo. The banks and lending companies have increased their pressure on the Commission by complaining of having to overcome different legal system according to the method of service provision. The Commission recognises in its Communication that "for the internal market to hold all its promises, it is not only necessary that the providers can easily offer their services outside the national border, but also for consumers to find it attractive to buy in other countries than their own." The Commission indicates that it will carry out, before the end of this year, an analysis (revisable in 2003) to determine which kind of national provisions could be applied by the Member States to entering services. It underlines that the restrictions to the free provision of services that can be justified by the need to protect consumers and investors must remain proportionate compared to the aim of the free movement of services."
The remedy the fragmentation of the internal market, it is important that the Commission also foresee: - a convergence programme covering the contractual and non-contractual rules for the principal of the competence of the State of origin to work in reality; - targeted measures favouring consumer confidence with regards to the cross border appeal mechanisms and electronic payments; - better cooperation between the surveillance authorities.