Brussels, 06/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - The appeal by Catherine Trautmann (PES, France) appears to have fallen on deaf ears: the overall compromise on the "telecoms package" has not been adopted, due to a lack of agreement on the modified amendment 138 (EUROPE 9894). In so doing, the European Parliament sent out a very strong message to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday 6 May, and the ministers must now review the copy on which it struggled to reach a small number of concessions. This process will considerably delay the reform of a sector which is growing rapidly, which has been paralysed by the economic crisis and which is seeking legal certainties.
It was amendment 138, tabled at first reading by the Parliament but subsequently rejected by the Council, which led to the problems at the vote. The compromise reached by the parties over the amendment failed to win over the Greens/EFA and Liberal groups, which rejected the modified amendment and re-tabled the initial amendment, which ended up being adopted by 407 votes in favour, 57 against and 171 abstentions. This initial amendment stipulates that no restriction can be imposed upon the fundamental rights and liberties of the end users without the prior decision of the legal authorities, unless public security is under threat. Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA, Germany), co-author of amendment 138 along with Guy Bono (PES, France), said: "today's vote is a real victory", particularly against France, which is hoping to adopt the Hadopi law. "This vote makes the Council face up to its responsibilities", he added.
The other elements of the reform (creation of the new telecoms authority, investments in new generation networks, reform of the use of the radio spectrum, protection of consumer rights and of privacy) were voted on by the EP without any problems.
The three rapporteurs in question, Catherine Trautmann, Malcolm Harbour and Pilar del Castillo Vera, expressed their disappointment. "We haven't seen the end of the telecoms package", Ms Trautmann predicted. In the view of the rapporteurs, the situation of deadlock over amendment 138 is clearly the result of a pre-election stand-off against the backdrop of the infamous French "Hadopi" law. The issue of the observation of fundamental rights, personal liberty, protection of privacy and access to information is a highly complex one and will not find its solution in amendment 138 alone, Ms Trautmann pointed out. "The Parliament has voted, the Parliament has decided. We must seek the solution tomorrow (...); the solution to save the package".
What makes the pill even harder for the rapporteurs to swallow is the fact that, as Pilar del Castillo Vera stressed, the compromise text was far more complete. Amendment 138 contains no element of protection for Internet users, she pointed out, and will in any case be somewhat irrelevant from a legal point of view as the final decision comes down to the national jurisdictions, due to subsidiarity, she continued. "It is tragic that "telecoms package' has been paralysed beyond all reason", she concluded. The somewhat more stoical Malcolm Harbour nonetheless criticised the MEPs who are "responsible" for this failure and said that they would have to explain themselves to consumers and citizens.
What will happen in the coming months? The text has been sent back to the Telecoms Council of 12 June, which will either validate the position of the EP, including amendment 138- an ideal scenario which would allow the reform to be adopted very quickly, but which is very unlikely due to the inflexibility of a number of Member States- or refuse to listen to the injunctions of the Parliament, in which case the text will go back to conciliation. If this happens, the new Parliament will either stand by the work carried out by the previous one and will focus only on amendment 138, or decide that other points need some work and reform will be delayed considerably. "Today, the ball is in the Council's court. I call on the ministers to evaluate the situation with the greatest of care, in view of what the telecoms package can bring in these times of crisis", said the initiator of the reform, Commissioner Viviane Reding. (I.L./trans.fl)