EC's draft recommendations

I'd like to thank Mark Roberti for his article "Give Your Views to the EU - Now!" (7 April). I'm currently in charge within DG Information Society and Media (INFSO) of the European Commission of the RFID dossier, and hence of the draft recommendation. A public consultation has been published for a period of 9 weeks (ending 25 April) and its results will obviously be taken into account by the Commission in its finalisation of the policy document. Here we find Mark's articles inspiring and always very useful for us to remain informed of RFID trends and developments worldwide and for different sectors and applications. His "call" on stakeholders concerning the draft EC recommendation, although critical of several aspects of the recommendation, will be duly considered as a relevant and positive contribution to the overall debate. I'd like to tell Mark each article in the draft recommendation is an integral part of it. The provisions concerning PIAs, codes of conduct, information on RFID use, security risk management, awareness raising actions, support for R&D, and the use of RFID in retail should not be seen as individual entities but as a set of inter-related entities which have to be set in conjunction with one another in a continuum. This said, I take note, among other things, of Mark's observation that some definitions and other parts of the draft recommendation are not sufficiently clearly specified. So, many thanks again, and let's hope that at the end we'll find a common path.
Gerald Santucci, Head of Unit, DG INFSO/D4