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Practical Information

How to Protect Your Business in the Future:
the Impact of European Union Regulation

The Current Policy Situation

Dr Christoph Dumrath

I.                  The Public Affairs Committee

It has 18 members which represent 15 countries; this is a good number but is only 50% of the work.  Without taking our requests into the Member States and lobbying our ideas, we will not be successful.  The Association has an important role to play; Anne and Stephanie are very valuable in this.  In addition to meeting the consultants and institutions in Brussels, we need to bring all the information that will go to the member companies of our Association.  The Public Affairs Committee has become a very effective network of intelligence gathering and sharing on the affairs concerning directory publishing in Europe.  The main task of the Public Affairs Committee was, is, and will be, to protect our business. 

II.               The Impact of EU Policy

As will be repeated throughout this session, EU policies are increasingly important in each of the Member States, politically and economically.  Many legal and economic decisions now comply with one of the Brussels policies, directives, or regulations.  Mergers and acquisitions must now comply with EU merger rules, the latter becoming increasingly detailed and complex.  Another very important policy question is whether the EU holds the first decision power.  EU policy also has an impact on everyday directory publishing: two crucial issues are data protection and public sector information (PSI).  These issues, some of the most important currently facing the EU, will be presented and debated during this session; there are also other issues. 

III.           The Publishers Roundtable

The Publishers Roundtable, a forum to express directory publishers’ ideas, was introduced by the EU Commission for the first time last year as an opportunity to meet along with other publishers with the Commission; in our case, that is the General Directorate for the Information Society.  In April 2003, Commissioner Liikanen  presented what had been done since the first meeting in 2002: copyright enforcement and workshops on digital rights management were established; a proposal for unfair commercial practices was proposed; and the VAT Directive has been revived.  This year, the key issues were PSI and data protection; we are very glad about this because it provides the chance for directory publishers to gain EU officials’ attention directly.  That is a good achievement, but the long‑term results are yet to be seen. 

IV.            The Brochure about Publishing Directories

The production of the brochure about publishing directories has been one of the major tasks of the EADP Public Affairs Committee during the past year.  The brochure compiles information on important policy fields and explains the possible impact of legislation on directory publishing; it will be updated every six months.  The issues addressed in the brochure are familiar to most of this audience: data protection; copyright issues; jurisdiction; and an introduction to the Telecom Package.  All the issues relevant to directory publishers are contained within.  We are also maintaining our day‑to‑day tasks of monitoring and lobbying actions in Brussels. 

V.               Bogus Publishing

1.                  The Problem

The issue of bogus publishing has arisen again recently; we have to deal with many issues including the long‑term political questions.  Bogus publishers behave like sharks, approaching quietly but biting hard.  Bogus online and print products are entirely useless but the advertiser receives a demand to pay in full; it is a big fraud and we must fight it in the interests of the bona fide publishers.  How do they work?  Bogus publishers send a form to the potential advertiser requesting that they send an information update at no cost, but with a signature.  The small print shows that the form is a contract obliging the signatory to pay for an advertisement, which often does not appear in an appropriate environment anyway.  Too many people do not read small print, especially as the design resembles forms that people know.  For example, in Germany the font is the same as Deutsche Telekom forms.  Bogus publishers target Europe, and recoup a 10% return which covers their costs of sending out the mail. 

2.                  Tackling the Problem

The EADP Public Affairs Committee is about to discuss how to protect our business.  A website www.ecg.org already exists, where victims can find help and everybody can get information on the names of the bogus products.  That website is independent of our organisation.  The question facing the Public Affairs Committee is whether EADP can fight it at the European level and coordinate an initiative for information and concrete help.  We will establish a forum for exchanging ideas on how organisations can react to bogus publishers.  We also want to establish a network providing academic support and practical advice on how to deal with doubtable products Europe‑wide. 

VI.            Competing with America

PSI is a problem, so I am very glad that Mr Gjoen  of the EU Commission, will explain the EU PSI policy to us.  PSI is part of an ambitious project aimed at competing with America’s e‑industry, where the access and re‑use the State Governments’ public information is supported by clear laws.  The 1966 Freedom of Information Act, completed in 1996 by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act, supports an enormously increasing information industry.  For example, there is no copyright on public information within the US.  To keep up with the US in the race for best ideas and market share worldwide, the EU has to collect the Member States together; the EU draft directive on the re‑use and commercial exploitation of PSI plays a key role. 

VII.        New Service Opportunities

Access to the enormous amount of raw information held by public bodies would be very interesting for database and directory publishers.  I will be interested in Mr Gjoen’s views on the situation.  We are part of the information industry; there is enough potential to develop new services, and we need new ideas for our databases because opt‑in solutions on the data protection field will melt away.  Nobody will notice at the outset, but it could cause major damage later. 

Developing new services and ideas has always been part of our business; yellow pages in 2003 look very different from those of the 1980s.  Consumer value is enhanced by city maps and restaurant guides; access to PSI presents opportunities for the future.  One important and very interesting new resource is geographic data; for example, new directory types could be developed which combine routing plans and directory information, perhaps customised for certain clients.  Statistical data could also be used to add value to websites and online directories. 

VIII.     European PSI Directives

Public bodies’ databases are protected under the Database Directive adopted in 1996; the few exceptions of Article 9 do not mention these kinds of databases.  The PSI Directive will not offer a solution.  According to the draft directive, public sector bodies judge which kind of information will be available, so the situation will not change.  There is no reason to believe that public bodies will change their attitudes.  In some Member States this question is handled generously; in others such as Germany and Austria, public bodies are very restrictive. 

The EADP attempted to promote a more integrated structure of access to PSI within the EU.  That was not successful: the proposed directive will only guarantee that information published in the Member States will be transparent and non‑discriminatory.  I do not believe there will be noticeable cross‑border lightening and, whilst not wishing to be pessimistic, I do not see how we can compete with the US.  We are very curious to hear the Commission’s view of this issue. 

Our lobbying has a long route to success, but a revision is planned after a three‑year period.  We will have to focus on that, and make an early start on explaining our ideas on the EU and the national level.  We want the decision‑making bodies to be made aware of directory publishers’ views. 

IX.            Data Protection

1.                  Directives

Data Protection is another issue, especially the transposition of the Electronic Data Protection Directive adopted in July 2002.  Reaching beyond the general Data Protection Directive, this Directive is part of the legislation of the Telecom Package; its aim was to find rules for the electronic communication and service market, largely adopted in the last three years. 

2.                  Opt-in vs. Opt-out

The EADP’s Public Affairs Committee worked hard to oppose opt‑in, in which every subscriber has to give formal consent before being published in the directory; we wanted to keep opt‑out, in which all subscribers are included in the directory unless they do not want to be.  We lost this battle and still wonder why.  I look forward to the transposition in the EU Member States. 

3.                  Interpretation of Legislation

It is surprising how divergent the interpretations of some Articles can be.  Article 12 of the EU Electronic Data Protection Directive says, “Member States shall ensure that subscribers are given the opportunity to determine whether their personal data are included in a public directory.”  My impression is that Member States simply keep their own rules in the process of transposition. 

Some States are very protective over their consumers: according to the German version the new telecommunication law states, “the subscriber has to give his clear consent before being included in the directory”; Germany has known of this rule for three years since the old telecommunication law was revised.  Conversely, in Austria, the legislators understand the wording differently: Article 69 of the new Austrian telecommunication law states, “as far as the subscriber wishes, their personal data will not be included in the directory.” 

X.               The European Regulators Group

In July 2002, the EU Commission appointed the European Regulators Group to control the transposition of the so‑called Telecom Package.  This Group comprises the heads of the national regulatory authorities responsible for the daily implementation of the European electronic services legislation, and will accompany the Member States in the transposition to ensure a harmonised approach.  I look forward to hearing their perspective and Mr Elverston’s views on their institution. 

XI.            Summary

I hope the EU will overcome these discrepancies which hinder us in building a real internal market.  Data protection and PSI show that the Member States’ egoism appears stronger than the will for unity and the interest in the participating industries.  When MEPs argue, in the discussion on PSI, that Member States have different traditions which prevent agreement on a minimum catalogue of public information in the EU, we have a long way to go.  Being afraid of real changes will prevent us reaching e‑Europe.  I believe the task of the EADP Public Affairs Committee is to protect our business by continually expressing our position so as to create a liberal market where European directory publishers can be successful.