Mr. Dave Hanley:

This is a major problem for us, for the industry and for most other member states. The deadline is very unrealistic, given the enormousness and complexity of the legislation. The Commission has been very forthright about this. It wants to see it done before the current European Parliament term expires early next year. There will be further discussions in the coming days at the European Council. There is a digital team at the European Council and there will also be some discussions at prime ministerial level on the STM package. The Council conclusions as they are currently drafted do not make reference to a deadline of 2014 but the Commission would prefer if the conclusions did contain such a deadline. The whole subject of how quickly this should be done will form part of the forthcoming discussions.