Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-17-Speech-3-272"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000517.12.3-272"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, I wish to congratulate Mr Paasilinna and Mr Alyssandrakis on their very timely and invaluable work. As part of an on-going exercise of monitoring by the Commission, the Fifth Report sets the scene for many of the conclusions and recommendations made in the communication’s review, which was issued at the same time, and on which we, and the European Parliament, are working right now.
Mobile and wireless communications develop at a rapid pace and the unexpectedly high results of spectrum licence auctioning in the UK show the growing importance of the sector. Furthermore, the messages of the spectrum Green Paper demonstrate the need to address certain radio spectrum issues at Community level and to reach a balance between various user sectors. Second, Community action on the radio spectrum is beneficial if taken within a clear regulatory framework. In addition, political support is required to facilitate the achievement of Community objectives at international level.
We have the on-going radio conference in Istanbul where issues like Galileo or third generation spectrum will be discussed. The Commission therefore welcomes the report from Mr Alyssandrakis. As this report calls for a radio spectrum policy, which fulfils Community policies, further harmonisation of radio spectrum is necessary. We have to see development of information and communications technologies and a balance between all spectrum needs including private and public interest. The competitiveness of European industry at global level must be developed in the interest of the European citizen.
At the same time, the Commission would like to stress that it is urgent and not premature to have an appropriate framework at the Community level to implement the spectrum policy options agreed in the Spectrum policy group and to ensure that results of harmonisation mandates are implemented in the Union. We should be able to promote without delay harmonisation measures which respond to technological and market developments. The Commission will report annually to the Council and the European Parliament on the measures adopted.
As far as further actions are concerned, the Commission will present by the end of June – after Parliament’s discussions and the votes on the radio reports – the appropriate framework for radio spectrum policy in the EC. This will also take into account the results of the overall discussion which is now taking place in the 1999 review.
We well understand the debate on auction prices which have received a lot of attention here. According to the present new rules, the Commission must recognise the authority of Member States to choose their preferred spectrum licensing method, whether it is the administrative or auction method, but the Commission will closely monitor developments to avoid distortion of competition and ensure the implementation of the licensing directive and also technological and service developments in the interest of EU citizens.
Mrs Read put a question about the balance between competition and regulation. I would say that we need regulation to push for competition because otherwise bottlenecks can actually prevent competition which can help citizens because it will be the incentive for lower prices and higher quality services. But there are areas where we also have a major public policy interest, especially in regard to universal service and data privacy. In those areas the Commission will make proposals in the context of the new legislation on electronic communications which will be presented at the end of June.
At the same time, the Commission also intends defining this balance between the markets and public policy in the context of the Europe Action Plan, which should be presented next week.
Finally, as far as the coherence of the licensing arrangements is concerned, we must ensure there will be no distortion of competition and guarantee the implementation of the licensing directive. This whole discussion is very important for defining the content of the new electronic communications legislation, and I am sure these issues will not be the concern of only a few passionate expert parliamentarians as is the case today – electronic communications will be a major political issue in the years to come.
Mr Paasilinna’s report inevitably touches on some of the issues to be addressed by the final proposals, which we will discuss here again next month.
The Commission shares many of the concerns expressed in Mr Paasilinna’s report on the current regulatory situation. They are vitally important for the uptake of the information society, for the development of the Internet, e-commerce and m-commerce – mobile commerce. They offer unbundled access to the local loop, facilitating developments in licensing, co-location, carrier pre-selection and the independence and the powers of national regulatory authorities.
The Commission is addressing many of these problems which you identify at the moment. It has the very recent recommendation on the local loop and on bundling. The Commission will also use its powers in regard to competition to monitor carefully dominant positions.
We have also made a revised recommendation on interconnection pricing and now we have on-going enforcement measures and infringement proceedings, for example, against a number of Member States on carrier pre-selection and local tariff structures.
Pending the adoption of the new framework, which will be presented in June, the Commission will continue to press for effective implementation of the current rules. This is called for by market players, national regulators and national administrations and has now also been unanimously mandated by the Lisbon Summit.
At the moment, the Commission is preparing the sixth framework report to be adopted during 2000. Parliament’s report will provide important input. I am sure that the report will be an important benchmark as we follow the development of the information society.
Cable systems will be examined more closely by the Commission. We already have a policy of pushing for divestment of cable TV networks to ensure greater local competition and to stimulate investments and services, as Parliament is calling for in these reports.
As to the radio spectrum issue and the report of Mr Alyssandrakis, I agree that radio spectrum is an increasingly scarce and valuable resource. It is used in many policy areas of concern for the EU, such as telecoms, broadcasting, transport, research and development, which are all very important for the European economy. For that reason, the Commission proposes a harmonised approach."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples