Brussels, 01/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 31 March, the MEPs of the committee on the internal market and consumer protection of the European Parliament recommended the approval at second reading of the draft common position of the Council on the “Telecoms Package” report by Malcolm Harbour (EPP-ED, UK). This report concerns the aspects of the "telecoms package" affecting access to universal services and the protection of privacy. This means that the Parliamentary committee has approved 10 compromises on essential aspects of the draft directive, which will help to reinforce consumer rights and internet security. "Today's vote allows us to confirm our position in negotiations with the Council. Like the Council, we are inclined to seek an agreement before the European elections", Mr Harbour commented. The points of convergence concern the following provisions: right of the user to a landline at an affordable price allowing internet connection, access to public telephones via "access points", access for the disabled to communication services on an equal footing with other users, registering everybody connected to a telephony network in directories, provisions to make it easier to change operator within a single day and not change telephone number, clear and detailed information when signing a contract (the duration of which may not exceed 24 months and the user will have the option to leave at the end of one year), connection quality, confidentiality of data and internet security.
The committee's vote on the Harbour report prepares the ground for the final adoption of the common position by the Council. The negotiations continue. The parties hope to conclude the procedure at second reading; the eight rounds of negotiations on the whole of the telecoms package have so far failed to lead to a global agreement. After last Tuesday's "Telecoms Council", Commissioner Reding welcomed the consensus reached on the Trautmann and del Castillo Vera reports during Monday's trialogue (see EUROPE 9873), stressing that an agreement is likely to be reached on Thursday on the differences of opinion over the Harbour report. The outstanding issues relate to the difference between the "opt-in" approach (the member state is obliged to apply the measures), which is supported by the MEPs, and the "opt-out" approach (the state is free to decide whether or not to observe the provisions), preferred by the Council. This means that aspects such as call localisation for emergency numbers, access to harmonised numbers starting with "116" for services of social significance and the "112" emergency number, or the right to change operator in a single day whilst keeping one's telephone number, continue to divide the Parliament and the Council. Negotiations will also continue on issues relating to the protection of private data stored on computers or transferred over the internet, including notification of network security violations or "unsolicited communications" ("spam"). If the talks of 2 April prove successful, Parliament would be able to validate the agreement in plenary in May.
French MEP Catherine Trautmann (PES), the author of the report on electronic communication services and networks, stressed in a press release the specific nature of the points of disagreement and indicated that the Parliament had proposed a "mini-package" of three points to the Council, in order to facilitate the finalisation of the end compromise. The first of these points concerns a re-working of the conclusions of the Spring Council on the competitive framework of the stimulation of the deployment of new fibre networks; the second relates to a sub-paragraph which refers to the digital dividend; and the third refers to the debates on amendment "138/46" (which provides that no restrictions can be imposed on end internet users without a prior decision of the judicial authority), which had not been retained by the Council (see EUROPE 9790). On this final point, the groups which attended the trialogue (PES, EPP-ED, ALDE and Greens/EFA) proposed wording keeping in place the key elements of this amendment, in order to overcome the deadlock in Council. "The Parliament is motivated by its desire to conclude", said Ms Trautmann. (I.L./transl.fl)