7 amendementen over 'the potential of cloud computing'

Opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs on unleashing the potential of cloud computing in Europe, 23 september 2013 (2013/2063(INI))
De Commissie van Juridische Zaken acht het gepast om met de Commissie van Industrie, Onderzoek en Energie over Cloud Computing te overleggen. Dit om bepaalde voorzieningen aan te scherpen en samen naar de wetgeving, die barrières zal opheffen en mogelijkheden openstellen, te kijken. De Commissie van Juridische Zaken  levert 17 amendementen voor het voorstel van de Commissie van Industrie, Onderzoek en Energie.

The Committee on Legal Affairs calls on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, as  the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a  resolution:

1. Urges the Commission to take action to further harmonise laws across the Member States in order to avoid jurisdictional confusion and fragmentation and to ensure transparency in  the digital single market;

2. Notes the urgent need for a clear and uniform European legislation for cloud computing to ensure a competitive European environment, increasing innovation and boosting growth;

3. Calls on the Commission to review other EU legislation to address gaps related to cloud computing; calls, in particular, for clarification of the intellectual property rights regime  and for a review of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the Unfair Contract Terms  Directive and the E-Commerce Directive, which are the most relevant pieces of EU legislation that apply to cloud computing;

4. Notes the importance of considering the legal framework for cloud computing with the current review of the EU Data Protection rules, ensuring clear rules with regard to the processing of personal data; notes the importance of free movement of such data in a  secure legal framework, resulting in greater data interoperability and, more importantly, greater confidence for users;

5. Points out that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and, therefore, that new cloud  computing services must be developed in a manner that ensures a high level of personal data protection in line with the fundamental rights and basic freedoms of the Union;

6. Calls for the establishment of a European seal to show, where the personal data of European citizens is transferred to third countries, that the businesses and third countries involved comply with EU law and uphold the fundamental right to privacy;

7. Calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to develop European cloud computing that upholds the principles and values of the EU, and to foster cooperation between private operators for the same purpose;

8. Calls on the Commission to establish a clear legal framework in the field of copyright content in the cloud, especially with regard to licensing regulations;

9. Acknowledges that the advent of the storage of copyright works by cloud computing services should not compromise the right of European right holders to receive fair compensation for the use of their work, but wonders whether these services can be  considered to be the same as traditional and digital recording and storage media and equipment;

10. Calls on the Commission to look into the different types of cloud computing services, how  the cloud storage of copyrighted works affects the royalties systems and, more specifically, the ways in which private copying levies that are relevant for certain types of PE514.601v03-00 6/7 AD\1003272EN.doc  EN  cloud computing services are imposed;

11. Stresses that, owing to uncertainties regarding applicable law and jurisdiction, contracts are the main tools for establishing relations between cloud providers and their customers, and that there is therefore a clear need for common European guidelines in that field;

12. Calls on the Commission to work together with the Member States to develop European best practice models for contracts, or ‘model contracts’, that will ensure complete transparency by providing all terms and conditions in a very clear format;

13. Highlights the importance of cloud computing services for SMEs, in particular those established in remote or outermost areas or facing economic difficulties, and calls on the Commission to consider an appropriate framework to allow SMEs to increase their growth  and productivity, as SMEs can benefit from reduced upfront costs and better access to  analytics tools;

14. Calls on the Commission to develop, together with stakeholders, voluntary certification schemes for provider security systems which would help to harmonise practices across cloud providers and which would make clients more aware of what they should expect from cloud service providers;

15. Calls on the Commission to promote the development, jointly with stakeholders, of decentralised services based on free and open-source software (FOSS) that would help harmonise practices across cloud providers and enable European citizens to regain control over their personal data and communication, for example by means of point-to-point encryption;

16. Stresses that, owing to jurisdiction problems, European consumers are in practice unlikely  to be able to seek redress from cloud services providers in other jurisdictions; calls therefore, on the Commission to provide adequate means for redress in the consumer services area, since there is a strong imbalance of power between consumers and providers of cloud computing;

17. Calls on the Commission to ensure a speedy implementation of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution and to make sure that consumers are equipped with adequate means of collective redress against security and privacy breaches as well as against illegal contract provisions for cloud services.