Chapter I. The scope of the Directive

Article 1 defines the meaning given by the Directive to a number of key terms, used throughout its provisions. This terminological and semantic clarification is essential to an effective understanding of the text and simultaneously defines the scope of the Directive.

Definition of terms (Article 1)

For the purposes of this Directive, the following meanings shall apply:

1) 'product'

Any industrially manufactured product and any agricultural product, including fish products;

The scope of the initial version of the Directive (i.e. 83/189/EEC) excluded cosmetic products within the terms of Directive 76/ 768/EEC15, medicinal products within the terms of Directive 65/ 65/EEC16, products destined for human and animal consumption and agricultural products17.

The scope of the Directive has been extended, since the operation of the information procedure revealed that numerous national regulations and standards involving barriers to in-tra-Community trade had not been monitored by the Commission and the Member States because certain products were not covered.

In order to clarify the very broad definition which is now used, it is worth recalling that the Court of Justice included in the framework of the provisions relating to the free movement of goods under Article 28 of the Treaty, 'products which can be valued in monetary terms and which may, as such, form the subject of commercial transactions'18. In this context, the Court also ruled that waste, whether recyclable or not, is to be considered to be a product whose movement should not, in principle, be prevented.19 It is appropriate to take this into consideration in determining the scope of the Directive.

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 services20.

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 poin t (a) of Article 7 of Directive 89/552/EEC

It should be emphasised that the inclusion of Information Society Services constitutes a very important extension of the scope of the Directive which has brought it in line with new developments in international commerce. To determine whether an activity comes within ...

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