On Friday 6 December, the European Telecommunications Ministers will meet in Brussels for a Telecommunications Council. The main item on the agenda will be the reform of European telecommunications and the Commission’s ‘White Paper’ on the subject.
In addition to the text on telecommunications, the White Paper includes the adoption of conclusions on the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), a debate on the numerical targets for the digital decade, as well as a number of discussions on the Council of Europe’s Convention on Artificial Intelligence, the forthcoming French summit on AI and advances in ‘roaming’ data.
The future of telecoms. The overhaul of European telecommunications has been on the Commission’s agenda since the publication of its White Paper on the subject last February (see EUROPE 13355/8). Mario Draghi’s report on European competitiveness largely echoed the ideas put forward by the Commission, namely the deregulation of telecommunications at national level and the facilitation of mergers to create European ‘champions’.
But there is no consensus on the issue, and a number of Member States are wary of the Commission’s ambitions. The conclusions to be validated by the ministers of the EU27 this Friday illustrate the reluctance of Europeans to accept this reform.
The EU27 have repeatedly called on the Commission to carry out a “more in-depth analysis” of the sector’s specific characteristics before considering the introduction of any new regulations, and to ensure that it always “reduces the administrative burden on companies”.
While the ‘Draghi’ report advocated the creation of truly profitable pan-European operators in order to boost European competitiveness, the approved conclusions are somewhat cautious on this principle: the Member States are concerned about its “impact on the competition of the markets of individual Member States and operators that are unable to operate on a pan-European scale”.
The Commission, which aims to launch the ‘Digital Networks Act’, a reform of the telecommunications code by 2025, will have to deal with the hesitations of the Member States.
To see the conclusions, go to https://aeur.eu/f/enw
Future mandate of ENISA. The Member States are also expected to call for a review of the way in which the agency’s resources are managed, considering the forthcoming evaluation of the Cybersecurity Act (CSA), and setting “concrete” strategic objectives. France is likely to mention the finalisation of the European Cybersecurity Certification Scheme (EUCS), which is still in a political and legislative limbo (see EUROPE 13451/10).
Objectives for the digital decade. The Council will hold a policy debate, in particular to anticipate any future changes to the programme’s targets and objectives, with a view to its review in 2026.
The Deputy Secretary-General of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), Tomas Lamanauskas, will be present.
To see the meeting agenda, go to https://aeur.eu/f/eo1 (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)