Brussels, 10/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has reviewed its telecoms package proposals in the light of first reading amendments adopted by the European Parliament on 24 September. These new arrangements will be on the table of the Council of Ministers which has, on 27 November, to reach political agreement on the legislative package, before its return to Parliament for its second reading scheduled for April 2009. The most radical amendment relates to the European Telecoms Authority. The Commission has scaled down its ambitions, after the reservations expressed by the Parliament and member states. Instead of the powerful authority it intended to create, it has opted for “a new, small and independent office for Europe's telecoms regulators”. The other alterations do not call into question the Commission's desired objective of bringing today's overly fragmented telecommunications market into a genuine single market. “With the text proposals published by the Commission today, we intend to facilitate the work of the European lawmakers. We have focussed on what is important and have left out what is not essential at this moment in time,” said Viviane Reding, EU Telecoms Commissioner.
The Commission's modified proposal covers the following main points:
BERT: The European Telecoms Authority will be substantially smaller in size and responsibilities than initially envisaged. Following the wishes expressed by Parliament and Council, it is to be a “lean and efficient office” that will have no responsibilities for spectrum or network security. Furthermore, this body, which the Commission, following, the Parliament lead, proposes to call the Body of European Regulators in Telecommunications (BERT), will not be merged with the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) which will continue to exist separately. Taking account of the recent position adopted by the European Regulators Group (ERG), independent national regulators will form the heart of the new office. The Commission also accepts the Parliament's proposal that 50% of the staff of the new office can be seconded by national regulators. Including such seconded staff, the new office should employ no more than 20 experts, according to the Commission's proposal: 10 experts recruited by the new office itself, and 10 seconded from national regulators. To ensure that this body is directly involved, national regulators may be required to amend or withdraw any proposed measure which the Commission or the BERT do not want because it forms a barrier to the single market or because it is otherwise incompatible with Community law.
Radio spectrum: The coordination of radio spectrum policy will be strengthened through a process whereby the Commission submits a multi-annual EU radio spectrum policy programme to be jointly adopted by Parliament and Council. The Commission has agreed to ensure that cultural and media policies are not affected by more rational management of the spectrum or that this restrict the sought-after increased flexibility or put in doubt the promotion of wireless broadband in rural areas. The Commission's role in coordinating conditions and procedures relating to rights to spectrum use is now clearly focused on pan-European services, as proposed by the European Parliament. The Commission, however, has not taken up the idea of setting up a new advisory body for radio spectrum policy.
Amendment 138: The Commission “can accept this amendment”, which it considers to be an important restatement of key legal principles of the Community legal order, and which, the Commission says, leaves member states sufficient scope for reaching a fair balance between different fundamental rights, in particular the right to protection of property, the right to effective remedy and the right to freedom of expression and information. This amendment has been strongly criticised by those defending intellectual property, and France, which is currently putting in place its “phased response”, is hoping that member states will drop this amendment on 27 November. President Sarkozy himself has called on the Commission to reject this amendment (see EUROPE 9756).
The Commission states that, as far as consumer rights are concerned, it has followed the wishes of Parliament, to ensure effective implementation of harmonised numbers of social value that begin with “116”, such as the 116000 missing children hotline number. It reaffirms, too, that, for investment in new networks, there is a need to strengthen existing arrangements on broadband and high-speed investment, rejecting calls for a “regulatory break” and encouraging effective investment in new fibre optic networks. With regard to ownership unbundling, the amended proposal reaffirms the power of national regulators and the possibility for them ultimately to require operators to separate their distribution infrastructure from their “services” division. Lastly, the Commission repeats that operators have to inform regulators and the public of breaches of security. The Commission will, however, provide more detailed guidance as to the circumstances under which a breach would trigger notification. (I.L./transl.rt)