Brussels, 01/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs has adopted the report by Malcolm Harbour, which emphasizes the necessity of providing greater protection for users of electronic communication services in the liberalized telecoms market. The report is expected to be debated in plenary in July or September. A number of amendments to the European Commission's proposal for a directive were adopted, specifying inter alia that the text must guarantee a minimum platform of high-quality services at an affordable price for all users, without creating distortions of competition, and that the connection provided must guarantee users real access to Internet. Members also stressed the need for Member States to take special measures to see to it that disabled users or those with special needs have access to the suppliers who are available to the majority of users. According to the MEPs, the notion of "user with special needs" should be determined after a public consultation. Member States should be able to ask operators to provide rate plans or options to prevent low-income persons or those with special needs being excluded from public fixed telephony services. The report proposes that the State provide support for such categories, for instance, by offering access to public telephony services at special rates. Members also requested that powerful companies on the market concerned provide their services under reasonable, transparent and non-discriminatory conditions and refrain from charging excessive prices or banning access to the market. The Harbour Report also invites Member States to accept their responsibilities in terms of transparency of prices and rates by guaranteeing the continuity of services in the event of a catastrophic breakdown of the networks. The report endorses the European Commission proposal to create a "European prefix", a code for all calls to operators (3883), subject to a feasibility study.