11.6.2005 Official Journal of the European Union L 149/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) DECISION No 854/2005/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 May 2005 establishing a multiannual Community Programme on promoting safer use of the Internet and new online technologies (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 153(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), After consulting the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2), Whereas: (1) Internet penetration and the use of new technologies such as mobile phones are still growing considerably in the Community. Alongside this, dangers, especially for chil- dren, and abuse of those technologies continue to exist, and new dangers and abuses are emerging. In order to encourage the exploitation of the opportunities offered by the Internet and new online technologies, measures are also needed to promote their safer use and protect the end- user from unwanted content. (2)  The eEurope 2005 Action Plan, developing the Lisbon strategy, aims to stimulate secure services, applications and content based on a widely available broadband infra- structure. Among its objectives, are a secure information () Opinion of 16 December 2004 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (?) Opinion of the European Parliament of 2 December 2004 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 12 April 2005. infrastructure, the development, analysis and dissemina- tion of best practices, benchmarking and a coordination mechanism for e-policies. (3)  The legislative framework being established at Community level to deal with the challenges of digital content in the Information Society now includes rules relating to online services, notably those on unsolicited commercial e-mail in the Directive on privacy and electronic communications (%) and on important aspects of the liability of intermediary service providers in the Directive on electronic com- merce (%), and recommendations for Member States, the industry and parties concerned and the Commission, together with the indicative guidelines on the protection of minors, in Recommendation 98/560/EC (°). (4)  There will be a continued need for action both in the area of content which is potentially harmful to children or unwanted by the end-user and in the area of illegal con- tent, in particular child pornography and racist material. (5)  Reaching international agreement on legally binding basic rules is desirable but will not be easily achieved. Even if such agreement is reached, it will not be enough in itself to ensure that the rules are implemented or that those at risk are protected. (*) Directive 2002/58EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (OJ L 201, 31.7.2002, p. 37). Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (O] L 1738, 17.7.2000, p. 1). (]) Council Recommendation 98/560/EC of 24 September 1998 on the development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human dignity (OJ L 270, 7.10.1998, p. 48). —_ =