Európa 2002, 2001 (2. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2001-12-01 / 4. szám

The notion of eEurope within the EU from a legal perspective Európa'2002- But, there are also deficiencies/problems, which need to be overcome in the near future, like for example: -delay in the implementation of the Government Resolution relating to the estab­lishment of the central government IT system which can make the public procurements institutionally possible through electronic means by the 1st February 2002 the latest32 -the Hungarian National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA) doesn't really reflect on the eEurope Action Plan 2002, in fact there is only one page addressing this topic.33 - delay in legal approximation like for example amendment to the Act No. XC of 1995 on public procurements, amendment to the 1992 Data Protection Act34, or in the field of the consumer protection, delays in amending the 1997 Framework Act on Consumers' Rights, or the 1993 Act on Product Liability, or the 1959 Act on the Civil Code etc. (not talking about the still prevailing tasks relating to e.g. the full transposition of the new injunctions' Directive35 36 for the protection of consumers'in­­terests , or of the new Directive“ on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees, or of the whole e-com­merce Directive from a consumers' point of view, or of the Directives on e-money etc.), Concerning protection of consumers' rights, I should underline in more general terms that I don't think that in Hungary 'the consumers' would be really placed in the centre of the law­making processes, which is a huge problem in my view (e.g. reconciliatory committees are very poor, NGOs are under-financed, court pro­ceedings are time-consuming and not efficient etc.37). I am convinced that this should change otherwise the necessary trust on the consumer­­s'side in the service-providers and in general in the 'new economy' will be aborted (not in place), which trust is a pre-condition of the suc­cess of our 'eEurope' project. -similarly no significant progress in amending the laws on taxation (e.g. VAT) with regard to implementing the eEurope Action Plan in Hungary - there are still regulatory loopholes in Hungary for example in the field of financial services where further law-making is needed (see: dis­tance marketing or electronic payments etc.) - Hungary should also make further efforts to prepare for the proper implementation of EEJ­­NET (European Extrajudicial Network for Alternative out-of-court dispute settlements) as well as for FIN-NET.38 32 See: Article in Hungarian in Világgazdaság of 21.02.2001 on „Kérdéses az elektronikus közbeszerzés startja-Több hóna­pos késésben a programme" on page 8. 33 The revised Government Resolution No.: 2184/1999 (VII.23) on the NPAA, in particular Vol. I page 18. 34 See: 'Digitális bukta/lnternetcégek nehéz helyzetben-Kalauz az Internethez', special Supplement to the June 2001 issue of HVG (Weekly World Economy), pages 4-8., in particular the interview with László Majtényi, former Ombudsman for Data Protection in Hungary on page 5. See also: Directive 95/46/EC (OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, pp. 31-50.) and Directive 97/66/EC (OJ L 24, 30.01.1998, pp. 1-8.) - the Data Protection Directives- deal with the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the right to privacy in the context of electronic commerce. The full transposition of these Directives requires in Hungary for the amendment to the 1992 Data Protection Act (adoption of this amending law was orig­inally scheduled by the Government by end 2001. This modification, however, requires for 2/3 majority in the Parliament. No draft bill made yet public !?). 35 See: Directive 98/27/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19.05.1998 on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests, OJ L 166, 11.06.1998, pp. 83-87. 36 See: Directive 1999/44/Ec of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees, OJ L 171, 07.07.1999, pp. 12-15. Please note that this article was finalised in terms of fact in Sept. 2000. 37 See: the last Regular Report 2000 of the European Commission on Hungary's progress towards accession, COM(2000)705 final, pp. 67-68. 38 See: also Council Resolution of 19 January 1999 on the consumer dimension of the information society, OJ C 023 (28.91.1999), p. 0001-0003. From the scientific literature, see: for example Norbert Reich.: Consumer Law and e-com­merce, CCLJ, 2000, p. 185-200. Here I also have to note that in my view the Hungarian Code on Civil proceedings (Act No. Ill of 1952) should be amended too, and still before accession. This is because the current procedural rules are still not 'con­­sumers'-focused' in the public administrative litigations, they still in fact protect the interests of the economic operators, especially by virtue of putting the 'burden of proof' on the shoulders of the poor consumers who are anyway out of posses­sion. This approach must change. I think that the economic operator - who is in stronger position in almost all aspects­­should prove that it did its best to obey with the relevant laws protecting the interests of the consumers. II. évfolyam 4. szám

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