Brussels, 03/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - Last week, the EU Council of Ministers formally adopted a common position on the draft directive on the reusing and sales of documents from the public sector, following the political agreement it reached in March (EUROPE 28 March p 10). This proposal includes an overall minimum of common rules that aim, in the context of reusing these documents, that the same conditions apply to all actors in the European information market, as well as greater transparency being guaranteed and that any unfair distortions in the market are disallowed. Currently, the legal uncertainty and disparity of national legislation constitute obstacles to development of cross-border information products and contribute to the fragmentation and under-development of the European digital market. This explains the reason behind the Commission's proposal. In different levels of the European institutions, sources underlines that the degree of harmonisation has been "relatively modest" and has had no effect on national rules regarding access to public information or the level of data protection in Member States.