A functional internal market and a quality regulatory framework constitute two key conditions for the future development of the telecommunications sector in Europe, according to the conclusions of the Telecom Ministers of the European Union (EU) and a delegation of the European Commission (EC) led by the Media and Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding, which met in Prague on 17 February 2009 as part of the ministerial conference ''Next steps in EU Telecoms''.
In the press release, the Czech presidency of the EU highlighted that digital technologies are one of the main pillars of European economic competitiveness and that investments into electronic communications represent an important tool for tackling the current economic crisis. This is why European companies need to be backed by a quality regulatory framework. As such it is stated that ''to find a compromise on the telecoms package, agreement will have to be negotiated on five crucial issues: radio spectrum policy, next generation access networks, the power of the Commission to harmonise the internal telecommunications market, the veto power of the Commission on decisions of national regulators and strengthening the cooperation between independent regulators.''
Meanwhile on 16 February, the EU Council of Ministers adopted a common position on the review of the regulatory framework for electronic communications proposed by the European Commission. Based on the political agreement of the Council of Ministers of Transport, Telecommunications and Energy of 27 November 2008, this position will be submitted to the European Parliament (EP), together with the statement of reasons of the Council and the countries which abstained from voting and the opinion of the EC, initiating the second reading in the Parliament. This second phase will culminate with voting on the proposals in a plenary session, scheduled for the period between 21 and 24 April 2009. Prior to the EP vote, informal meetings will be held between the three bodies involved (EC, EP and Council).
Consult:
- Functional internal market and quality regulatory framework are conditions for future development of EU Telecoms http://www.eu2009.cz/en/news-and-documents/news/functional-internal-market-and-quality-regulatory-framework-are-conditions-of-future-development-of-eu-telecoms-9972/
- Telecoms Ministerial in Prague: ''Next Steps in EU Telecoms'' http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/65&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- EU - political agreement on the review of the regulatory framework https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=761478
