Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-02-Speech-2-209"
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"en.20080902.29.2-209"2
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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, you only have to look at some figures to see the strategic importance of telecommunications and new information technologies in Europe: telecom technologies alone account for one quarter of European growth and 40% of our productivity gains. If you look at a number of studies that have been conducted, you can see that, over the past 12 years, 50% of the growth gap between the US and Europe is linked to disparities in the development of our information and communication technologies. Europe therefore needs to invest in this sector on a long-term basis. A speedy revision of the EU’s electronic communications regulatory framework is consequently essential to promote competitiveness and growth in the European economy.
My final comments relate to the report by Malcolm Harbour, whom I wish to thank for the quality of his work; I especially welcome the fact that it takes into account fundamental consumer rights. Parliament, like the Council, supports the measures proposed by the Commission aimed at strengthening consumer protection, an issue that has come to the fore recently given the increased impact of communications services on the daily lives of our citizens.
In particular, Mr Harbour’s report proposes that the information to be included in contracts should be specified, that the measures to be taken by Member States for disabled users should be strengthened and that lead times should be reduced for number portability in order to improve competition. The Council broadly endorses all these measures.
I think that the issue of the protection of privacy, which was dealt with under the enhanced cooperation procedure with Mr Alvaro in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, is also an important matter that needs to be addressed and I am delighted, for example, that unsolicited communications by SMS have been taken into account.
As regards the specific issue of copyright, Mr Harbour’s report proposes the retention of the obligation on network providers of electronic communications services to provide subscribers with all useful information on the unlawful uses of networks and services. It also proposes to encourage cooperation between all stakeholders in order to promote the dissemination of legal offers. These appear to be balanced measures, but we shall need to take into account that this is a highly sensitive issue, both for your House and for the Council.
To conclude what I have to say on those areas for which I am responsible, Mr President, before handing over to my colleague, Éric Besson, on the issue of the digital dividend, we feel that Parliament and the Council are very much in agreement on these issues, although it is true that there are slight differences of opinion regarding the level of detail to be included in this Directive. We shall naturally do our utmost to continue working closely with Parliament and the Commission so that compromises may be reached between the three institutions as quickly as possible.
As I said at my hearing before the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the objective of the French Presidency is to reach a political agreement at the Council of Telecoms Ministers on 27 November, the substance of which will, of course, be based as closely as possible on the positions adopted by the European Parliament. To achieve this, the Council has planned to hold some 15 working meetings throughout the second half of 2008. I should therefore like to take a few moments to inform you of the position prevailing in the Council on the main issues which are addressed by the three rapporteurs, Mrs Trautmann, Mrs del Castillo and Mr Harbour. My colleague, Éric Besson, will deal with Mrs Toia’s report on the issue of the digital dividend.
I should like to commend the quite considerable amount of work that has been done by the three rapporteurs on issues which I shall discuss in a moment. In my opinion, the work that they have done helps clarify the situation and provides a new basis for entering into discussions with the Council, and I should like to emphasise that there is a broad consensus between our two institutions, Parliament and the Council.
Firstly, I should like to congratulate Catherine Trautmann for the work that she has done so far as rapporteur on the Directive amending the Framework Directives on ‘access’ and ‘authorisation’. I should like to commend her willingness to take into account the challenge raised by the deployment of next-generation networks, a concern which is shared by all stakeholders in this sector and by the Member States.
Mrs Trautmann, your report emphasises the need to continue to promote competition, especially infrastructure-based competition; that is the view of the Council. Your report suggests greater use of the geographical segmentation of the market in order to remove
regulatory obligations where competition is effective. This second issue is being debated in the Council.
I should now like to turn to the regulation of the markets, in particular the proposed extension of the Commission’s right to veto remedies proposed by regulators. Mrs Trautmann emphasises in her report that the Commission should play the role of an arbitrator rather than of a judge; she is therefore proposing a coregulation mechanism whereby a matter may be referred to the reformed regulator group, for example, when a remedy proposed by a regulator is disputed by the Commission. Parliament’s rapporteur is therefore seeking a compromise between the status quo and the right of veto which was originally proposed by the Commission and which, as you know, has met some opposition from the Member States. This constitutes real progress compared to the original text on what is a highly sensitive issue for the Council, which does not seem quite willing, at this moment in time, to give so much power to the Commission.
Another issue that has been the subject of heated debate is functional separation. Mrs Trautmann’s report proposes the retention of the imposition of functional separation as an exceptional remedy for national regulatory authorities (NRAs). This exceptional remedy would be more restricted in terms of its implementation, since it would require both the prior agreement of the Commission and a favourable opinion from the Body of European Regulators in Telecommunications (BERT). The approach adopted by the rapporteur generally seems to be consistent with the compromise emerging in the Council in this respect, namely the retention of the imposition of this remedy, without its use, however, being allowed to become widespread.
Another major issue in these negotiations is the management of radio frequencies. Your rapporteur is, like the Council, in favour of a gradual approach to changes in spectrum management that strikes a balance between the principles of neutrality put forward by the Commission and the complexity of the management of this scarce resource. The report finally adopted by the Industry Committee also introduces a new element by advocating the creation of a Radio Spectrum Policy Committee (RSPC) responsible for advising the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on radio spectrum policy issues. This Committee would be assigned the task of establishing a strategic legislative programme on the use of radio spectrum. On this issue, I believe that the Council has taken into account the legitimate request from the European Parliament for it to be more involved in the formulation of broad guidelines for the management of radio frequencies, but, as you know, the Council also wants to avoid a situation where there are too many bodies responsible for this resource and to preserve the responsiveness required by these markets and by radio frequencies as a strategic resource for innovation.
I wish to commend the quality of the report by Pilar del Castillo on the establishment of the European Electronic Communications Market Authority; I would point out that it touches on a highly sensitive issue, one that is also the subject of a broad consensus between Parliament and the Council. The report, Mrs del Castillo, concludes that the European Authority, in the form originally proposed, is not the right solution to strengthen cooperation between regulators and promote the harmonisation of practices; this is also the Council’s position. You are opposed to the creation of a European super-regulator and you are proposing the establishment of a body – BERT – which would be closer to the regulators, which would enjoy greater independence from the European Commission and which would have a much simpler structure and governance than those originally proposed. The Council is aware of all of these arguments but, as you know, a majority of Member States do still have some reservations about the idea of establishing a Community body. Over the next few weeks, the Council must therefore try to strike a balance between two options: the institutionalisation of a private-law body comprising European regulators or the establishment of a Community body whose independence must be guaranteed."@en1
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