The Council had an in-depth debate on the proposal for a Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the Information Society. While progress was made on a number of major issues, it was generally agreed that further work was necessary before the Council could adopt a common position. The Council invited the Permanent Representatives Committee to pursue work on this proposal with a view to enabling the Council to reach agreement before the end of the Portuguese Presidency.
The Council's discussions centered on the need to strike the right balance between the interests of the rightholders (holders of copyrights and related rights) on the one hand, and the interests of the other parties on the other hand (Internet service providers, consumers, equipment manufacturers, libraries, publishers,and other beneficiaries of exception to rights in the Member States), taking into account in particular the possibilities offered by new technologies.�