Cards and other debit instruments should be included in the scope of the Directive, as such cards must meet the same legal, technical or security requirements as other means of payment.

Direct payment via debit card became available nationally in 1994.

Whereas the "EU service provision card”, to be issued by the Member State in which the service provider is established, is intended to remove the legal uncertainty associated with postings and thus facilitate the free movement of services; whereas, if a posting is contemplated, the service provider should therefore be entitled to apply for an EU service provision card in his Member State of establishment and to produce the evidence required for the issue of such a card; whereas this Directive, similarly, does ...[+++] not affect the undertakings of the Community and its Member States, given in the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); whereas the EU service provision card should include only the data required under Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data;

Whereas the freedom to provide services entails as a corollary the right of entry into and residence on the territory of the Member State in which the service is provided; whereas, in the absence of uniform national documents covering the various aspects of movement, a document known as an "EC service provision card” should be the instrument facilitating the provision of cross-border services with a view to current or potential movements in connection with normal activities ; whereas it should be for the service provider to decide whether to apply for the EC service provision card; whereas this ...[+++]Directive, similarly, does not affect the undertakings of the Community and its Member States, given in the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); whereas the EC service provision card should include only the data required under Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data;

It should be noted that Ontario has direct access to secure SIN cards following a provincial confidential name change for members of the federal Confidential Service for Victims of Abuse program managed by Service Canada.

- The JRC is involved in the TREES project (Tropical Ecosystem Environment Observation by Satellites) designed to map tropical forests from satellite images and measure the extent of deforestation in order to assess its impact on climate and biodiversity.