NoC40/18 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 17.2.92
5.Conclusions
5.1.Althoughwellintentioned,theCommissionpro­
posalleavesmanyquestionsunansweredand,ifintro­
ducedinitspresentform,willinvolvealotofredtape.
TheCommitteeendorsesthecontentoftheproposal,
butisoftheviewthatsomeprovisionsaretoovaguely
wordedtoadequatelyensuretheiruniformapplication
inallMemberStates.rulesareimplementedinareasonablyuniformman­
nerinalltheMemberStates?Thatisthequestion.
4.Specificcomments
4.1.Article11(3),penultimateline
4.1.1.Insert'repeated'before'excessspeed'.
DoneatBrussels,27November1991.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
FrancoisSTAEDELIN
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveonthefrequencybandstobedesignated
forthecoordinatedintroductionofdigitalshort-rangeradio(DSRR)intheCommunity (*)
(92/C40/10)
On23July1991theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,under
Article100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforTransportandCommunications ,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingthe
Committee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon13November1991.TheRapporteur
wasMissBarrow.
Atits291stplenarysession(meetingof27November1991),theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
neededtoensurethatthegreatestbenefitscanbe
derivedfromthefiniteresourcesoftheradiospectrum.1.Introduction
1.1.TheproposalforaCouncilDirectivewhichthe
EconomicandSocialCommitteehasbeenaskedto
considerdealswiththeharmonization offrequencies
fordigitalshort-rangeradio(DSRR)throughoutthe
Community .
1.2.Recentyearshaveseengreatgrowthinservices,
bothpublicandprivate,wishingtomakeuseofthe
radiospectrum.Efficientadministration and,inpar­
ticular,greatcareintheallocationoffrequenciesis1.3.Becausefrequenciesarealimitedresourceand
becausethereareagreatmanycompetingneedstouse
frequencies,bothmilitaryandcivil,publicandprivate,
itisclearthatharmonization offrequencyallocationon
aninternationallevelwillassistinensuringmaximum
efficiencyinexploitingtheradiospectrum.Theelimin­
ationofconflictingfrequencyallocationatadomestic
levelis,therefore,essential.Inaddition,theharmoniza­
tionoffrequencyallocationthroughouttheCommunity (!)OJNoC189,20.7.1991,p.14.

17.2.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC40/19
othermovesinsimilarfieldssuchasthedevelopment
ofGSMasapan-Europeanstandardfordigitalmobile
telephony.
2.2.Themeasuressetoutintheproposalwillclearly
beofassistanceinresolvingtheincompatibility of
mobilecommunications systemsintheCommunityand
accordinglytheyareinlinewiththeEuropeanParlia­
ment'sstatedpolicy(EuropeanParliamentReporton
Telecommunications intheCommunity,doc.1.477/3
of3March1984).
2.3.Asthereisnoformalreferenceintheproposal,
theCommitteepresumesthat,inaccordancewithnor­
malpractice,theCommissionwillundertaketheusual
impactstudyconcerningcompetitiveness andemploy­
ment.willassistincreatingapan-EuropeanmarketforDSRR
uncomplicated bynationalboundariesandinconsistent
frequencyallocationpolicies.
1.4.Theneedfortheinternationalcoordinationof
frequencyallocationhasbeenrecognizedformany
yearsandimplementedonalargescalebyboththe
InternationalTelecommunication UnionandtheEuro­
peanRadioCommunications CommitteeoftheEuro­
peanConferenceofPostalandTelecommunications
Administrations (CEPT).However,measuresas
specificasthoseintheproposalhavenot,todate,been
implementedonawidescale.TheCommitteetherefore
commendstheproposalandsupportstheprincipleof
pan-European coordinationoffrequencyallocation
implementedinaccordancewiththelawsoftheEuro­
peanCommunities .
1.5.Theproposalsetsoutprovisionswherebythe
MemberStatesoftheEuropeanCommunities are
requiredtoallocatethefrequencybandsindicatedin
CEPTRecommendation T/R75/02(notably888-890
and933-935MHz)forDSRRsystems.
1.6.Theobjectiveoftheproposalistoassistin
thedevelopmentofDSRRbyspecificallyallocating
frequencybandstoit.Thisshouldaddmomentumto
theprogressalreadybeingmadeinthedevelopmentof
DSRRwithaviewtoachievingthefollowing:
a)thecompletionofasingleEuropeanstandardfor
DSRR.Thisinvolvesthestandard-setting process
oftheEuropeanTelecommunications Standards
Institute(ETSI)and,inparticular,thecompletion
ofDSRRspecifications [1EuropeanTelecommuni­
cationsStandard (ETS)]byOctober1991andthe
developmentoftheEuropeanTelecommunications
StandardforDSRRby1993;
b)thecoordinatedintroductionofDSRRthroughout
theCommunity ;
c)theoperationofDSRRonapan-European basis
becauseoftheavailabilityofcommon,Europe-wide
frequencies;
d)thecreationofalargeEurope-widemarketfor
DSRRwithconsequential benefitsformanufac­
turersasaresultofthescaleofthemarket.2.4.WhilsttheCommitteeisingeneralagreement
withthemeasuressetoutintheproposal,itdoes,
however,havereservationswithrespecttoseveralof
thedetailedprovisionsoftheproposalinparticular
thoserelatingtotheproposedtimetableforimplemen­
tation.Theyare:
a)thedeadlinessetoutinArticles2.1and3ofthe
proposal(1January1992fordesignationbyMem­
berStatesoftherelevantfrequenciesforDSRRand
31December1991forcompletionofrelevantlaws,
regulationsandadministrative provisions)are
unrealistic;
b)thereportingprovisionssetoutinArticle4ofthe
proposalareneithersatisfactorynorwilltheybe
helpful.
2.5.IntheCommittee'sviewthedeadlinefor
implementation ofthefrequencyallocationshouldbe
tightly(butrealistically )scheduled.TheCommittee
suggeststhattheCommissionshouldcommunicate
withtherelevantregulatoryagenciesoftheMember
Statestoestablishwhatactionneedstobetakenunder
theirdomesticlawstodesignatethesefrequencies .The
deadlineshouldthenbefixedasearlyaspossiblewithin
theframeworkoftheactionthateachMemberState
hastotake.
2.Generalcomments2.6.IntheCommittee'sviewtheCommissionshould
reporttotheCouncilonthelegalimplementation of
theDirectivewithintwelvemonthsofthedeadlinefor
laws,regulationsandadministrative provisionsnecess­
arytocomplywiththeDirective,settingoutthepos­
itionasregardsDSRRfrequencyallocationineach
MemberStatetothatdate.2.1.Theprinciplesofharmonization tobe
implementedintheproposalarecomplementary tothe
generalprinciplessetoutinthecommunication from
theCommissionentitled'TowardsadynamicEcon­
omy-GreenPaperonthedevelopmentoftheCommon
Marketfortelecommunications servicesandequip­
ment'[doc.COM(87)290,30June1987].Inaddition
themeasuressetoutintheproposalareinlinewith2.7.ThereafteritistheCommittee'sopinionthat
theCommissionshouldreporttotheCouncilonthe

NoC40/20 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 17.2.92
practicalimplementation oftheDirectivewithinfive
years,settingoutindetailwhethertheobjectivesoftheDirectivehavebeenachievedandanalyzingthestateof
theEurope-wideDSRRmarket.
DoneatBrussels,27November1991.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
FrancoisSTAEDELIN
OpinionontheCommissionproposalforaCouncilDecisionconcerninganAgreement
betweentheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,theKingdomofNorwayandtheKingdomof
Swedenoncivilaviation
92/C40/11
On7October1991theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle84(2)oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforTransportandCommunications ,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingthe
Committee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon13November1991.TheRapporteur
wasMrBoGreen.
Atits291stplenarysession(meetingof27November1991),theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeunanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
—containprovisionsforconsultation ,
—andsetoutprovisionsregardingtheentryintoforce
andreviewoftheAgreement.
1.3.1.OntheJointCommitteereferredtoin
Chapter4,theCommission—inconjunctionwithrep­
resentativesoftheMemberStates—representstheEC.1.Introduction—Commissionproposal
1.1.FurthertotheCouncilDecisionof18-19June
1990theCommissionconductednegotiationswitha
jointdelegationfromNorwayandSwedenandconsen­
suswasreachedonanAgreementwherebyallCom­
munitylegislationaffectingtheair-transportsector
wouldbeapplicableinNorwayandSweden.
1.2.SincetheAgreementisseenasacomponent
ofthecommoncommercialpolicy,thelegalbaseis
Article113oftheTreaty.
1.3.TheproposedAgreement'ssixchapters:
—dealwiththescopeoftheAgreement,
—containatranscriptionoftheTreaty'scompetition
rules,
—concerntheCommission'spowers,
—establishaJointCommittee,2.Generalcomments
2.1.TheCommitteelargelyagreeswiththethrustof
theCommission'sproposal,especiallyinthelightof
theEC-European FreeTradeAssociation (EFTA)
CooperationAgreementconcludedon21October1991.
2.2.InitsDecisionof7October1991theCouncil
approvedthesubstanceoftheAviationAgreementand