Eu: Isdn Directive

Following the EP Legal Affairs Committee’s vote on the ISDN proposals in December, the Medina report was adopted by the Parliament on 16 January 1997 with 11 amendments. The Commission has been asked to write an opinion on these amendments, some of which are very unhelpful to the direct marketing industry. For example, the text requires businesses (legal persons) as well as consumers (natural persons) to give their prior consent before marketing approaches are made to them by fax or ACUs (automated calling units). This means that Telephone Preference Services will have to cover businesses as well as consumers, and that business-to-business faxes will only be allowed with the prior consent of the recipient. The nature of the changes proposed by the EP means that the text, which in places is still far from clear, must go to Codecision between the EP and the Council of Ministers.