56. Considers that the rules governing distance contracts should also cover contracts concluded between consumers and professional traders in online auctions and calls on the Commission to further examine and assess the rules governing specific distance contracts for tourist services (airline tickets, hotel accommodation, car rental, leisure time services, etc.) ordered individually over the internet, primarily in order to increase the liability of online auctions to better protect consumer rights;

56. Considers that the rules governing distance contracts should also cover contracts concluded between consumers and professional traders in online auctions and calls on the Commission to further examine and assess the rules governing specific distance contracts for tourist services (airline tickets, hotel accommodation, car rental, leisure time services, etc.) ordered individually over the internet, primarily in order to increase the liability of online auctions to better protect consumer rights;

28. Calls for the adoption of effective, clear and adequate financing arrangements for actions linked to Motorways of the Sea and short sea shipping lines, allowing the optimum level of complementarity or indeed additionality of financing so as to enable lasting and viable new lines to be set up (which, however, must not on any account be detrimental to existing short sea shipping services) where necessary with the involvement of public services, in compliance with Community rules;

11. There is an important distinction between distance services offered across border directly by the service provider and those where the offering is made indirectly by the establishment of a branch, a subsidiary, using an intermediary or an online facility in another Member State, with the latter typically having back office support from the home Member State.

As the Commission has indicated, the mere number of leased line termination points does not take into account the different types of leased lines that are available on the market - ranging from analogue voice quality to high-speed digital leased lines, short distance to long distance international leased lines.

(18) Information society services span a wide range of economic activities which take place on-line; these activities can, in particular, consist of selling goods on-line; activities such as the delivery of goods as such or the provision of services off-line are not covered; information society services are not solely restricted to services giving rise to on-line contracting but also, in so far as they represent an economic activity, extend to services which are not remunerated by those who receive them, such as those offering on-line information or commercial communications, or those providing tools allowing for search, access and retrieval of data; information society services also include services consisting of the transmission of in ...[+++]formation via a communication network, in providing access to a communication network or in hosting information provided by a recipient of the service; television broadcasting within the meaning of Directive EEC/89/552 and radio broadcasting are not information society services because they are not provided at individual request; by contrast, services which are transmitted point to point, such as video-on-demand or the provision of commercial communications by electronic mail are information society services; the use of electronic mail or equivalent individual communications for instance by natural persons acting outside their trade, business or profession including their use for the conclusion of contracts between such persons is not an information society service; the contractual relationship between an employee and his employer is not an information society service; activities which by their very nature cannot be carried out at a distance and by electronic means, such as the statutory auditing of company accounts or medical advice requiring the physical examination of a patient are not information society services.