6.7.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 17625 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 28 June 2007 setting up the Expert Group on Radio Frequency Identification (2007/467[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Whereas: (1)  Article 153 of the Treaty assigned the European Community the task of ensuring a high level of protection for consumers, by promoting their right to information and to organising themselves in order to safeguard their interests. Article 163 provides that the Community shall encourage industry to become more competitive at international level and encourage under- takings to exploit the internal market potential to the full, including through the definition of common standards. Article 157 provides that the Community and Member States shall encourage an environment favourable to initiative and shall foster better exploitation of the industrial potential of policies. (2 The Commission Communication entitled ‘Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in Europe: steps towards a policy framework’ (1) (hereinafter ‘the Communication’) announced the creation of the expert group on Radio Frequency Identification (hereinafter ‘RFID’) which should allow a dialogue between stakeholders, in order to fully understand and advise on action which should be taken in relation to the concerns raised in the Com- munication. (3) It is therefore necessary to set up a group of experts in the field of RFID and to define its tasks and its structure. (4 The group should help to develop a dialogue between consumer organisations, market actors, and national and European authorities, including data protection auth- orities. (5)  Personal data relating to members of the group should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (?). () COM(2007) 96 final. () OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1. (6) It is appropriate to fix a period for the application of this Decision. The Commission will in due time consider the advisability of an extension, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Atticle 1 The Expert Group on Radio Frequency Identification The ‘Expert Group on Radio Frequency Identification’ group of experts, hereinafter referred to as ‘the group’ is hereby set up with effect from 1.7.2007. Article 2 Task The group’s tasks shall be to: (@) To provide advice to the Commission on the content of a Recommendation which shall set out the principles that public authorities and other stakeholders should apply in respect of RFID usage and on the content of other Commission initiatives related to this field; (b) To develop guidelines on how RFID applications should operate taking into account the views of stakeholders and issues relating to long-term users as well as economic and societal aspects of RFID technologies; (c) To support the Commission in its efforts to promote awareness campaigns at Member States and citizen level about the opportunities and challenges of RFID. (d) To provide objective information and facilitate the exchange of experience and good practices in respect of the oppor- tunities and challenges of RFID technology, including appli- cations for Europe’s economy and society; to provide objective information on the Community and national regu- latory frameworks as regards data protection and privacy, and on other policy concerns. Article 3 Consultation The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to the implementation in Europe of a safe, secure, privacy- friendly and effective approach to RFID.