European Union Shares Preliminary Recommendation Findings

Although it's too early to provide final results from the feedback, Gerald Santucci, head of the Networked Enterprise & Radio Frequency Identification unit, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission, shared the following preliminary findings and statistics.

In an earlier interview this year, Santucci explains some of the issues covered in the recommondation.

The European Unions received 637 valid replies. The total number of replies is "only" 29% of what it was for the previous public consultation in 2006 on RFID (2190).

Printed in the regular A4 format, the total contribution represents more than 1,000 pages. Interested citizens represent 36% of all replies, compared with 70% in the previous public consultation in 2006 on RFID.

German citizens were among the top respondents, contributing 51%, followed by Belgium, 9%; USA, 8.5%; and Austria, The Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, and Luxembourg.

Among non-citizen respondents, categorized as organizations and institutions, both Germany and Britain contributed 19% each, the United States followed with 18%; Belgian, 7%; and France, 6%.

The questions that triggered most interest and reactions focused on definitions, information on RFID use, and RFID use in retail.

At first glance, most businesses are broadly supportive of the approach proposed in the recommendation, including provisions on codes of conduct, and information to consumers. "However, not too surprisingly, they have expressed concerns about the issue of automatic and immediate deactivation of RFID tags as the deactivation proposed, according to them, would place an unnecessary burden on retailers and deprive consumers of potential benefits," Santucci says.

The analysis will continue through May. The European Commission will discuss the revised recommendation text and submit to commissioners for approval. Adoption is scheduled for July or September.