The scope of directives defines the range of products covered and the type of hazards that the Directive is intended to avert.
Speaking at a meeting of finance ministers on Wednesday, the European commissioner responsible for taxation, Laszlo Kovacs, said he would propose extending the scope of a directive on the taxation of savings, which applied primarily to bank accounts.
Whether it succeeds also to extend the scope of the Directive on other risk cycle-related products is doubtful.
One of the positions taken is to expand the scope of the directive a second time, to broaden its field of application.
The scope of the Directive was extended in 2009 to the range of products that are related to energy consumption (energy related, such as windows, insulation).
Under the heading MEErP (M ethodology for the E codesign of E nergy-r elated P roducts) this method is actually passing an evaluation and completion process due to the expansion of the scope of the Directive [4].
The outcome of the RISKCYCLE project and further research initiatives could be a reason to extend the scope of the Directive either by a broader scope (not only electrical and electronic equipment) or by extending the catalogue of restricted substances (Annex II of the Directive).
The changes it's proposing to the PSI Directive are intended to reduce market entry barriers (especially for SMEs) by lowering charges for the re-use of public sector info; increase the availability of data by bringing new types of public and publicly funded data into the scope of the Directive (specifically the utilities and transport sectors, and research data).
"The Commission wants to reassess the scope of the Directive to ensure citizens the same level of protection online and offline," the EU notes in a update on its plans, adding that the aim is to fashion rules that are "up to date with the challenges of the digital era".
Presently, only trials involving IMPs fall under the scope of the directive and are the focus of this review.
