Brussels, 03/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Telecommunications Ministers will gather, this Wednesday in Luxembourg, under the Presidency of the Swedish Minister Bjorn Rosengren. The talks will concentrate on the framework Directive of the "telecommunications package", in which remains pending the definition of the concept of "significant power in the market" and the role of the European Commission with regards to the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA). The Council will also look at the eEurope action plan 2002 and the continuation of the liberalisation of postal services. During the lunch, the Ministers will discuss the progress achieved since the opening of the local loop, the securing of networks, the introduction of third generation mobile telephony (see EUROPE of 21 March, p.12), and the organisation and management of the Internet.
Common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services. The Ministers will broach four Directives from the "telecommunications package", a legislative group put forward by the Commission in July 2000 that constitutes an intermediary step in the liberalisation of telecommunications and aims to adapt this sector to the changes introduced by the new technologies. The Council should reach a political agreement over three of them. The framework Directive defines the common principals of the package and outlines the role of the National Regulatory Authorities (NRA), in particular, their rights with regards to the allocation of radio spectra. Two major points will be discussed:
The concept of "significant power in the market" (article 13), which most of the Member States accept to assess on the basis of the notion of dominance put forward by the European Commission, when it concerns individual dominance (25% of the market). On the other hand, in case of collective dominance, certain delegations feel that the European executive is not clear. The Swedish Presidency proposed to clarify the text by adding in annex a list of market conditions leading to the position of significant collective power. Commissioner Mario Monti, responsible for competition, will take part in the meeting.
The link between the Commission and the NRA (article 6) is the object of a draft compromise by the Presidency, which recognises to the Commission the right to express a detailed opinion on the decisions by the NRA, while, in its initial proposal, the Commission gave itself the right to amend or withdraw decisions considered incompatible with the Treaty. Several Member States would like to go even further by not recognising the detailed opinion (Germany, Austria and Spain).
The Directive on access and the interconnection to networks and that on the authorisation of access should not present problems. The Ministers will take note of the evaluation report concerning the Directive on universal services and user rights.
Draft Regulation for the creation of an ".eu" domain name. The Council should manage to agree on common guidelines. The Presidency hopes for an agreement in first reading with the European Parliament. This is a case of defining the rules for allocating the domain name.
Continuation of opening to competition of postal services. The Swedish Presidency will put across its intention to reach an agreement on the Directive put forward by the Commission, in view of respecting the deadline of end 2001 that was set for its adoption by the Stockholm European Council. A French diplomat added that "little progress is expected from this debate".
eEurope action plan 2002. The Council will listen to Commissioner Erkki Liikanen on three points: 1) the follow-up report of the eEurope action plan; 2) network security, for which the Commission is preparing a Communication; 3) the fight against cybercrime.