Brussels, 21/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Telecommunications Council, held on Friday under the chairmanship of Christian Perret, French Minister for Industry, will be largely devoted to the debate on the continued liberalisation of postal services. The discussion could be prolonged during lunch. The ministers will seek to reach a political agreement on the directive proposed by the Commission on 30 May, which provides for liberalisation of postal services in two stages - first of all, opening an additional 20% of the market up to competition compared to the current situation by 2003 at the latest, and the adoption in 2005 of decisions on continued liberalisation from 2007 on. The main elements of the directive proposed are the introduction of new definitions for opening up to competition: - the 50 gram limit, letters below 50 grams where the price is at least two and a half times the price of a standard letter, and all outgoing mail to other Member States and all express mail. Nonetheless, deep cleavage appeared between the Member States during the October Council (see EUROPE of 4 October). One French diplomat recalled last Friday during a press conference that "the proposal on the table does not always fulfil the progressive criteria for opening up public services and the universal service remains an important factor in territorial cohesion". In October, the restrictive French position was supported by Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Luxembourg while the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium did not give their position. The Commission's proposal was supported by Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands. The Council president declared that the solution adopted by the Parliament could represent the basis for a reasonable compromise. The Commission keeps to its proposal.
The Council will then examine the future regulatory framework of electronic communications, a series of proposals presented by the Commission in July this year, aimed at adjusting the current regulation on telecommunications to the upheavals in the sector. The Council common position on the framework directive is not expected before the month of April, after the vote in parliament in first reading, scheduled for February. This directive aims to set out the principles governing the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA). The Commission considers the French Presidency's compromise text is behind compared to its own proposal. As far as the four other proposals of harmonisation are concerned (directives on authorisation, access and interconnection, the universal service and data protection), the Council should this time simply note progress achieved. The same will be true for the decision on the radio spectrum and the draft directive on competition in the radio-communication services market. Ministers will hold an exchange of views on the sixth report on implementation of the regulation on telecommunications, adopted by the Commission on 7 December.
The key Council decision is expected to cover the multiannual eContent programme (2001-2004), which aims to encourage the use of the European digital content on world networks, promote linguistic diversity in the information society and reduce the gap between Europe and the United States. There are differences of opinion on the budgetary allocation. The initial Commission proposal for EUR 150 million over 5 years was reduced to 4 years without any new amount being put forward. The Commission is hoping for EUR 120 million.
The Commission will present its proposal of decision on the creation of an ".eu" Internet top level domain (PH). The Presidency will inform the Council of the follow-up given to the eEurope action plan, mainly in the light of the European Council of Nice.