Brussels, 27/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - European ministers responsible for telecommunications will be in Brussels on Monday 31 May for the next joint session of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council. Telecom issues on the agenda will be discussed during the morning, under the chairmanship of the Spanish minister for industry, tourism and trade, Miguel Sebastián Gascón. The main item on the agenda concerns the adoption of conclusions on Europe's digital strategy, adopted by the European Commission on 19 May (EUROPE 10142). Commissioner Neelie Kroes, responsible for the Digital Agenda, will present this strategy to the ministers present before the debate. Discussion will also turn to a “European Code of rights of users of electronic communications services”. Such a code already exists at national level in Spain, and the Spanish Presidency hopes to open the debate with the idea that such a code could be established at European level. At lunch, ministers will discuss the issue of the seat of the BEREC office (Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications), the new body set in place under telecommunications rules adopted last December. The only candidate for hosting the office is Riga (Latvia), but some member states may prefer Brussels given its central position and its proximity to the European institutions, the Spanish Presidency said. Unanimity is required for the final decision on this.
Four subject will be covered under “any other business”: 1) universal service: outcome of the public consultation exercise (information communicated by the Commission); 2) 15th progress report on the single European electronic communications market (presented by the Commission); 3) the report on Europe's digital competitiveness (presented by the Commission); and 4) the EU-Latin America and Caribbean countries ministerial meeting held in Segovia (14-16 March) on “digital content for a digital society” (information from the Presidency).
Ministers are expected to adopt without major difficulty the draft conclusions on the digital strategy put forward by the Commission. These conclusions will be general as there has not been much time to examine the Commission communication in detail, a source familiar with the dossier explains. Pursuant to the project, the Council approves, among other things, the establishment of an ambitious action programme based on concrete provisions and in particular by: 1) creating a fully operational single digital market to the benefit of European enterprise, especially SMEs, and European consumers; and 2) adopting coordinated measures on the security of networks and information in order to heighten trust in cyberspace. (I.L./transl.jl)