1. "product", any industrially manufactured product and any agricultural product, including fish products; 2. "service", any Information Society service, that is to say, any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services. For the purposes of this definition: "at a distance" means that the service is provided without the parties being simultaneously present, "by electronic means" means that the service is sent initially and received at its destination by means of electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data, and entirely transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, by radio, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means, "at the individual request of a recipient of services" means that the service is provided through the transmission of data on individual request.
An indicative list of services not covered by this definition is set out in Annex V. This Directive shall not apply to: radio broadcasting services, television broadcasting services covered by point (a) of Article 1 of Directive 89/552/EEC OJ L 298, 17.10.1989, p. 23 . Directive as last amended by Directive 97/36/EC (OJ L 202, 30.7.1997, p. 1 ).
3. "technical specification", a specification contained in a document which lays down the characteristics required of a product such as levels of quality, performance, safety or dimensions, including the requirements applicable to the product as regards the name under which the product is sold, terminology, symbols, testing and test methods, packaging, marking or labelling and conformity assessment procedures. The term "technical specification" also covers production methods and processes used in respect of agricultural products as referred to Article 38(1) of the Treaty, products intended for human and animal consumption, and medicinal products as defined in Article 1 of Directive 65/65/EEC Council Directive 65/65/EEC of 26 January 1965 on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to medicinal products ( OJ 22, 9.2.1965, p. 369/65 ), Directive as last amended by Directive 93/39/EEC (OJ L 214, 24.8.1993, p. 22 ).4. "other requirements", a requirement, other than a technical specification, imposed on a product for the purpose of protecting, in particular, consumers or the environment, and which affects its life cycle after it has been placed on the market, such as conditions of use, recycling, reuse or disposal, where such conditions can significantly influence the composition or nature of the product or its marketing; 5. "rule on services", requirement of a general nature relating to the taking-up and pursuit of service activities within the meaning of point 2, in particular provisions concerning the service provider, the services and the recipient of services, excluding any rules which are not specifically aimed at the services defined in that point. This Directive shall not apply to rules relating to matters which are covered by Community legislation in the field of telecommunications services, as defined by Directive 90/387/EEC OJ L 192, 24.7.1990, p. 1 . Directive as amended by Directive 97/51/ECOJ L 295, 29.10.1997, p. 23 ).This Directive shall not apply to rules relating to matters which are covered by Community legislation in the field of financial services, as listed non-exhaustively in Annex VI to this Directive. With the exception of Article 8(3), this Directive shall not apply to rules enacted by or for regulated markets within the meaning of Directive 93/22/EEC or by or for other markets or bodies carrying out clearing or settlement functions for those markets. For the purposes of this definition: a rule shall be considered to be specifically aimed at Information Society services where, having regard to its statement of reasons and its operative part, the specific aim and object of all or some of its individual provisions is to regulate such services in an explicit and targeted manner, a rule shall not be considered to be specifically aimed at Information Society services if it affects such services only in an implicit or incidental manner;
6. "standard", a technical specification approved by a recognised standardisation body for repeated or continuous application, with which compliance is not compulsory and which is one of the following: international standard: a standard adopted by an international standardisation organisation and made available to the public, European standard: a standard adopted by a European standardisation body and made available to the public, national standard: a standard adopted by a national standardisation body and made available to the public;
7. "standards programme", a work programme of a recognised standardisation body listing the subjects on which standardisation work is being carried out; 8. "draft standard", document containing the text of the technical specifications concerning a given subject, which is being considered for adoption in accordance with the national standards procedure, as that document stands after the preparatory work and as circulated for public comment or scrutiny; 9. "European standardisation body", a body referred to in Annex I; 10. "national standardisation body", a body referred to in Annex II; 11. "technical regulation", technical specifications and other requirements or rules on services, including the relevant administrative provisions, the observance of which is compulsory, de jure or de facto, in the case of marketing, provision of a service, establishment of a service operator or use in a Member State or a major part thereof, as well as laws, regulations or administrative provisions of Member States, except those provided for in Article 10, prohibiting the manufacture, importation, marketing or use of a product or prohibiting the provision or use of a service, or establishment as a service provider. De facto technical regulations include: laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a Member State which refer either to technical specifications or to other requirements or to rules on services, or to professional codes or codes of practice which in turn refer to technical specifications or to other requirements or to rules on services, compliance with which confers a presumption of conformity with the obligations imposed by the aforementioned laws, regulations or administrative provisions, voluntary agreements to which a public authority is a contracting party and which provide, in the general interest, for compliance with technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services, excluding public procurement tender specifications, technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services which are linked to fiscal or financial measures affecting the consumption of products or services by encouraging compliance with such technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services; technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services linked to national social security systems are not included. This comprises technical regulations imposed by the authorities designated by the Member States and appearing on a list to be drawn up by the Commission before 5 August 1999 (*), in the framework of the Committee referred to in Article 5. The same procedure shall be used for amending this list;
12. "draft technical regulation", the text of a technical specification or other requirement or of a rule on services, including administrative provisions, formulated with the aim of enacting it or of ultimately having it enacted as a technical regulation, the text being at a stage of preparation at which substantial amendments can still be made;
Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations
Modified by
- Directive 98/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 July 1998, 31998L0048, August 5, 1998
- Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, 12003T, September 23, 2003
- Council Directive 2006/96/ECof 20 November 2006adapting certain Directives in the field of free movement of goods, by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, 32006L0096, December 20, 2006
- Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 25 October 2012on European standardisation, amending Council Directives 89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC, 98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC, 2009/23/EC and 2009/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Decision 87/95/EEC and Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(Text with EEA relevance), 32012R1025, November 14, 2012
- Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 9 September 2015laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services (codification)(Text with EEA relevance), 32015L1535, September 17, 2015
will transpose an international standard without being the equivalent, will be a new national standard, or will amend a national standard.
communicate information in accordance with Articles 2 and 3, publish the draft standards in such a way that comments may also be obtained from parties established in other Member States, grant the other bodies referred to in Annex II the right to be involved passively or actively (by sending an observer) in the planned activities, do not object to a subject for standardisation in their work programme being discussed at European level in accordance with the rules laid down by the European standardisation bodies and undertake no action which may prejudice a decision in this regard.
request the European standards institutions to draw up a European standard within a given time limit, ensure where necessary, in order to avoid the risk of barriers to trade, that initially the Member States concerned decide amongst themselves on appropriate measures, take all appropriate measures, identify the areas where harmonisation appears necessary, and, should the case arise, undertake appropriate harmonisation in a given sector.
(a) before any amendment is made to the lists in Annexes I and II (Article 2(1)); (b) when drawing up the rules for the consolidated presentation of information and the plan and criteria for the presentation of standards programmes (Article 2(2)); (c) when deciding on the actual system whereby the exchange of information provided for in this Directive is to be effected and on any change to it; (d) when reviewing the operation of the system set up by this Directive. (e) on the requests to the standards institutions referred to in the first indent of paragraph 3.
for four months the adoption of a draft technical regulation in the form of a voluntary agreement within the meaning of the second indent of the second subparagraph of point 11 of Article 1, without prejudice to paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, for six months the adoption of any other draft technical regulation (except for draft rules on services),
without prejudice to paragraphs 4 and 5, for four months the adoption of any draft rule on services, from the date of receipt by the Commission of the communication referred to in Article 8(1) if the Commission or another Member State delivers a detailed opinion, within three months of that date, to the effect that the measure envisaged may create obstacles to the free movement of services or to the freedom of establishment of service operators within the internal market.
when the Commission informs the Member States that it no longer intends to propose or adopt a binding Community act, when the Commission informs the Member States of the withdrawal of its draft or proposal, when the Commission or the Council has adopted a binding Community act.
for urgent reasons, occasioned by serious and unforeseeable circumstances relating to the protection of public health or safety, the protection of animals or the preservation of plants, and for rules on services, also for public policy, notably the protection of minors, a Member State is obliged to prepare technical regulations in a very short space of time in order to enact and introduce them immediately without any consultations being possible or for urgent reasons occasioned by serious circumstances relating to the protection of the security and the integrity of the financial system, notably the protection of depositors, investors and insured persons, a Member State is obliged to enact and implement rules on financial services immediately.
comply with binding Community acts which result in the adoption of technical specifications or rules on services, fulfil the obligations arising out of international agreements which result in the adoption of common technical specifications or rules on services in the Community, make use of safeguard clauses provided for in binding Community acts, apply Article 8(1) of Directive 92/59/EEC Council Directive 92/59/EEC of 29 June 1992 on general product safety ( OJ L 228, 11.8.1992, p. 24 ).restrict themselves to implementing a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, restrict themselves to amending a technical regulation within the meaning of point 11 of Article 1, in accordance with a Commission request, with a view to removing an obstacle to trade or, in the case of rules on services, to the free movement of services or the freedom of establishment of service operators.
CEN European Committee for Standardisation Cenelec European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
Directive 83/189/EEC and its following amendments Council Directive 88/182/EEC Commission Decision 90/230/EEC Commission Decision 92/400/EEC Directive 94/10/EC of the European Parliament and Council Commission Decision 96/139/EC
| Directive | Deadline for transposition |
|---|---|
| 83/189/EEC ( | 31. 3. 1984 |
| 88/182/EEC ( | 1. 1. 1989 |
| 94/10/EC ( | 1. 7. 1995 |
| Directive 83/189/EEC | This Directive |
|---|---|
| Article 1 | Article 1 |
| Article 2 | Article 2 |
| Article 3 | Article 3 |
| Article 4 | Article 4 |
| Article 5 | Article 5 |
| Article 6 | Article 6 |
| Article 7 | Article 7 |
| Article 8 | Article 8 |
| Article 9 | Article 9 |
| Article 10 | Article 10 |
| Article 11 | Article 11 |
| Article 12 | Article 12 |
| — | Article 13 |
| — | Article 14 |
| — | Article 15 |
| Annex I | Annex I |
| Annex II | Annex II |
| — | Annex III |
| — | Annex IV |
(a) medical examinations or treatment at a doctor's surgery using electronic equipment where the patient is physically present; (b) consultation of an electronic catalogue in a shop with the customer on site; (c) plane ticket reservation at a travel agency in the physical presence of the customer by means of a network of computers; (d) electronic games made available in a video-arcade where the customer is physically present.
Services having material content even though provided via electronic devices: (a) automatic cash or ticket dispensing machines (banknotes, rail tickets); (b) access to road networks, car parks, etc., charging for use, even if there are electronic devices at the entrance/exit controlling access and/or ensuring correct payment is made,
Off-line services: distribution of CD roms or software on diskettes, Services which are not provided via electronic processing/inventory systems: (a) voice telephony services; (b) telefax/telex services; (c) services provided via voice telephony or fax; (d) telephone/telefax consultation of a doctor; (e) telephone/telefax consultation of a lawyer; (f) telephone/telefax direct marketing.
(a) television broadcasting services (including near-video on-demand services), covered by point (a) of Article 1 of Directive 89/552/EEC; (b) radio broadcasting services; (c) (televised) teletext.
Investment services Insurance and reinsurance operations Banking services Operations relating to pension funds Services relating to dealings in futures or options
(a) investment services referred to in the Annex to Directive 93/22/EEC OJ L 141, 11.6.1993, p. 27 .(b) services covered by the activities subject to mutual recognition referred to in the Annex to Directive 89/646/EEC OJ L 386, 30.12.1989, p. 1 . Directive as amended by Directive 92/30/EEC (OJ L 110, 28.4.1992, p. 52 ).(c) operations covered by the insurance and reinsurance activities referred to in: Article 1 of Directive 73/239/EEC OJ L 228, 16.8.1973, p. 3 . Directive as last amended by Directive 92/49/EEC (OJ L 228, 11.8.1992, p. 1 ).the Annex to Directive 79/267/EEC OJ L 63, 13.3.1979, p. 1 . Directive as last amended by Directive 90/619/EEC (OJ L 330, 29.11.1990, p. 50 ).Directive 64/225/EEC OJ 56, 4.4.1964, p. 878/64 . Directive as amended by the 1973 Act of Accession.Directives 92/49/EEC OJ L 228, 11.8.1992, p. 1 .OJ L 360, 9.12.1992, p. 50 .