NoC19/126 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveontheapplicationofOpenNetwork
Provision(ONP)tovoicetelephony
(93/C19/31)
On15September1992theCounciloftheEuropeanCommunitiesdecidedtoconsultthe
EconomicandSocialCommittee,underArticle100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity ,ontheabovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforTransportandCommunications ,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingthe
Committee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon18November1992.TheRapporteur
wasMrGreen.
Atits301stPlenarySession(meetingof25November1992)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction purposesotherthanvoicetelephony.Heretoothe
proposalisindependentofthetechnologyinvolved.
1.5.Finally,theproposallaysdownthatpublictele­
phonecallboxesshallbeprovidedinsufficientnumbers
andgeographicalcoverage,andinitiatesharmonization
oftelephonepre-paymentcards,sothattheycanbe
usedincallboxesthroughouttheCommunity .1.1.Theproposalfollowsonfromtheearlierframe­
workdirectiveonONP,90/387/EEC,whichlaysdown
thatproposalsshallbeputforwardforCouncildirec­
tivesonONPforleasedlinesandvoicetelephony,
togetherwithrecommendations onpacket-switched
dataservicesandtheISDN.Thedirectiveonrented
circuitsandtherecommendations wereadoptedbythe
Councilon5June1992.
2.Generalcomments1.2.Theproposaldealswithunhinderedandhar­
monizedaccessforusers—includingotherprovidersof
services—tothevoicetelephonyservice,intheformof
thecurrentONPtrilogy:technicalinterfaces,conditions
ofdeliveryanduse,andtariffprinciples.Inadditionit
urgestheestablishment ofanumberofinternational
serviceswithintheCommunity ,whereasuptonow
thesehaveonlybeenavailableatthenationallevel.2.1.Thereisclearlyagreatneedtoimplementprin­
ciplesonONPinthefieldofvoicetelephony.The
Community'stelephoneservicesandlinkednetwork
divergetechnicallyatanumberofpoints—oftenarbi­
traryandarisingfromtraditionalpractice—tothegreat
inconvenienceofusersandtothedetrimentofdevelop­
mentsinboththeterminalmarketandthetelephone
servicesmarketintheCommunity . 1.3.Theproposeddirectiveisinprincipleindepen­
dentofthetechnologyusedandcoversforexample
bothanalogueanddigitalservices,includingtheISDN
whenusedforvoicetelephony.Itneitherdealswith
norpresupposesaspecificdegreeofliberalizationfor
voicetelephony.Withparticularreferencetolinkinga
numberofnetworksoranetworkwithserviceproviders
whohavespecialrequirements ,theproposallaysdown
generalguidelinesforaccesstoobtainingsuchlinks,
whichdifferfromtheconnectionofferedtotheordinary
user.2.2.TheserviceisoperatedinmostMemberStates
asapublicservice.Conditionsforusershaveoftenbeen
linkedtorequirements inrespectofguaranteeing a
serviceforusersinthecontextofnationalland-use
planning.Thedefinition,implementation andinterpret­
ationoftheONPmeasuresshouldberelatedtothe
costsinvolved.ONPmeasuresmusttakeaccountofthe
realnatureofdemand,bearinginmindeconomicand
socialviability,technicalfeasibilityandinitialand
operatingcosts.Anymovetowardsbasingtariffson
costsshouldbegradualandshouldbelinkedto
measurestoensurethatlow-trafficusers,andcon­
sumersingeneral,enjoytariffreductions—asbusiness
subscribersdo—andmeasurestoencouragethecon­
nectingtothenetworkofhouseholdswhichcouldnot
otherwisebeconnected .Tariffprinciplesmustguaran­
teethefinancialviabilityofpublicoperators,whichis
essentialtothemaintenanceofthepresentnetworks,1.4.Theproposaldealsinasimilarwaywithunhin­
deredharmonizedaccesstothesamelinkedpublic
networkasaninfrastructure whichcanbeusedfor
(')OJNoC263,12.10.1992,p.20.

25.1.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC19/127
theirdevelopmentandtheguaranteedprovisionofa
universalservice.
2.3.Theproposalaimstochangethissituationas
regardsvoicetelephonyandthelinkednetworkitself,
andthereforedeservestheCommittee'sgeneralsup­
port.
2.4.AslaiddownintheframeworkDirective,ONP
asappliedtovoicetelephonyisaresponsetothe
existenceofexclusiveandspecialrights.Itsroleisto
replacemarketmechanismswhenthegeneralinterest
makesitnecessarytoimposerestrictionsonthemarket.
Whenmarketforcesdeterminerelationsbetweenusers
andsuppliers,regulationsmustbethesameforall
competitors ,especiallywhenONPconditionsare
defined.Usersareentitledtoreceivethesameminimum
levelofqualityfromallmajortelecommunications
operators.Inaddition,theintegrityandqualityofthe
telecommunications infrastructure asawholedepends
onmaintainingadequatequalitylevelsforallthese
operators .
2.5.Theprovisionsonnon-discrimination intele­
phonecompanies'useofthenetworkforserviceswhich
canalsobeofferedbyothersarehardlysufficient.As
longasprovisionsdonotexistonaccessto'co-location'
ofequipment (cf.preambleclause17),accesstothe
subscriberlineoughttobegiveninsteadtootherservice
providersonthesametechnicalandeconomiccon­
ditionsastothetelephonecompanyitself,regardless
ofthefactthatthisaccessmightinvolveextracosts.
2.6.TheCommitteealsofeelsthateffortsshouldbe
madetoachievethemaximumtransparencyincommer­
cialrelationsamongthesuppliersofservicestothe
public.3.Specificcomments
3.1.TheprovisionsoftheDirectiveshouldestablish
thenon-discrimination principleinallrelevantfields
—economic,technical,andinrelationtoservices,oper­
ationalaspectsandaccesstoinformation .
3.2.Article10(1):Nationalregulatoryauthoritiesare
tobeconsultedbeforeanyrejectionofanapplication
forinterconnection withotherserviceproviders'net­
works.Itshouldbeexplicitlystatedinthetextthatthe
requestingpartyshallhavetheopportunitytopresent
hiscasetotheregulatoryauthoritiesbeforethedecision
istaken.
3.2.1.Theinterconnection pointmustbewellspeci­
fiedinordertosafeguardthenetworkintegrityand
efficiencyofbothinterconnected networks.
3.3.Article16:Itisrecommended thattheCom­
missionbeinstructedtoinitiatestandardization work
onoperatingconditionsandfacilitiesforpublictele­
phonecallboxes,inadditiontotheprovisionmen­
tionedin1.5.aboveconcerningprepaidtelephonecards
(Article17),withaviewtoensuringconsistency .
3.4.Article25(4)(b)seemstoprovidefornational
regulatoryauthoritiestobeconsultedincasesbeing
dealtwithbytherelevantworkinggroup.Itisprefer­
ablethatthehearingshouldnotincludetheregulatory
authoritiesofcountrieswhicharenotinvolved,andthe
textoughttobeamendedtostateclearlythatonlythe
nationalregulatoryauthoritiesinvolvedshallbeheard,
togetherwiththecomplainantandthetelephonecom­
paniesconcerned .
DoneatBrussels,25November1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN

NoC19/128 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
APPENDIX
totheOpinionoftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
ThefollowingamendmenttotheSectionOpinion,tabledinaccordancewiththeRulesofProcedure,was
defeatedinthecourseofthedebate:
'Point2.2.
Amendthelasttwosentencesofthispointtoreadasfollows:
«Anymovetowardsbasingtariffsoncostsshouldbegradualandshouldbelinkedtomeasurestoensure
thatallusersenjoyadvantagesintheshapeofcostreductionsonanequalfootingwithbusinesssubscribers,
andmeasurestoencouragetheconnectingtothenetworkofhouseholdswhichcouldnototherwisebe
connected .Tariffprinciplesmustnotdestroythefinancialviabilityofpublicoperators,whichisessentialto
themaintenanceanddevelopmentofthepresentnetworksandtheguaranteedprovisionofauniversal
service.»'
Voting
For:24,against:42,abstentions :21.
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveontheConditionsforgrantingandusing
authorizationsfortheprospection,explorationandextractionofhydrocarbons (!)
(93/C19/32)
On26May1992,theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommitteeunder
Articles57(2)and100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunityon
theabovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforEnergy,NuclearQuestionsandResearch,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon30October1992.The
RapporteurwasMrSala.
Atits301stPlenarySession(meetingof25November1992)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionbyalargemajority,withtwoabstentions .
1.Introduction
1.1.Thecurrentsituation
1.1.1.Communityhydrocarbonresourcesfallfar
shortoftotalinternalneeds.Internalproductionisnot,
ingeneral,ontheincrease.Whilenotentirelytobe
ruledout,theoutlookfornewmajordiscoveriesis
notveryencouraging .Significanttechnologicalprogress
continuestobeachieved,however,inprospectionandexplorationtechniquesandinstruments :newsources
maythereforeyetbefoundeveninpreviouslyprospect­
edandmarginalzones.
1.1.2.Thenumberofprimaryandqualifiedoper­
atorsremainslow,asaresultofthehighlevelof
technicalknow-howandfinancialsupportrequiredfor
hydrocarbonsexploration .Anumberofindustrialcon­
cernshaverecentlycomeontotheexplorationmarket,
however,partlybycooperatingwithhighlyspecialist
sub-sectors .Nevertheless ,relativelysmallnumbersof
primaryandsecondary(specialistsub-contractor )oper­
atorsareinvolved. (!)OJNoC139,2.6.1992,p.12.