COMMON POSITION (EC) No 47/94 adopted by the Council on 22 December 1994 with a view to adopting European Parliament and Council Decision . . ./. . ./EC of . . ., on a set of guidelines for the development of the EURO-ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) as a trans-European Network (94/C 384/02)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 129d thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (4),

Whereas the aim of establishing trans-European telecommunication networks is to allow the circulation of information with a view to enabling the internal market to function properly for all participants, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises in the Community, and strengthening its economic and social cohesion;

Whereas the internal market establishes an area without internal frontiers within which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital must be guaranteed; whereas in order to ensure each of these freedoms the Community acts adopted or being adopted provide for measures involving substantial interchange of data between individuals, economic operators and the competent administrations; whereas such interchange can be ensured using trans-European networks;

Whereas action by the Community in this field has to take account in particular of the need to link island, land-locked and peripheral regions with the central regions of the Community;

Whereas Council recommendation 86/659/EEC (5) provides for a set of ISDN services compatible at European level to be made available, which is also the subject of a Memorandum of Understanding between the public telecommunications network operators;

Whereas the Council resolution of 18 July 1989 (6) calls for a strengthening of coordination on the introduction of ISDN in the European Community by 1992;

Whereas Council recommendation 92/383/EEC (7) calls for the application to ISDN of the principles of open network provision;

Whereas the Council in its resolution of 5 June 1992 (8) has recognized the importance of developing ISDN in the context of trans-European networks;

Considering the conclusions of the European Council meeting in Corfu on 24 and 25 June 1994 and in particular those relating to the information society;

Whereas for the further development of the regulatory framework, account should be taken of the objectives defined in this Decision;

Whereas it is important, for the smooth operation of the internal market, to facilitate the movement of goods, services, persons and capital between the Community and third countries, and more specifically the member countries of the European Free Trade Association; whereas such movements will strengthen trade relations between the economic operators of the countries concerned; whereas cooperation must therefore be established with those countries in order to promote Europe-wide interconnection and interoperability of ISDN;

Whereas adequate Community action is needed to establish smooth coordination between the Member States and the economic operators responsible for creating the basic infrastructure, in order to ensure the harmonized introduction of ISDN services; whereas failure to adopt a Council Decision on the development of ISDN as a trans-European network would be liable to result in a lack of interconnection and interoperability between national networks and a smaller supply of compatible basic services,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

This Decision establishes the guidelines identifying the objectives, priorities, broad categories of measures and a number of projects of common interest concerning the development of EURO-ISDN as a trans-European network.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Decision:

- 'EURO-ISDN` shall mean a set of ISDN facilities and services implemented on the basis of the harmonized European standards as set out in Annex I, point 1,

- 'basic services` shall mean the services set out in Annex I, point 2,

- 'telematic services` shall mean the services set out in Annex I, point 3.

Article 3

The objectives for the development of EURO-ISDN shall be as follows:

- access to EURO-ISDN facilities including basic services,

- availability of a full geographical coverage by EURO-ISDN in all Member States having regard to market needs, in particular to facilitate access of the island, land-locked and peripheral regions by means of EURO-ISDN.

Article 4

The priorities for achieving the objectives referred to in Article 3 shall be as follows:

- to promote the use of EURO-ISDN, in particular by small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as public organizations,

- to contribute to the rapid availability of affordable testing equipment,

- to promote access to less expensive terminal equipment and application software.

Article 5

The broad categories of measures necessary to attain the objectives referred to in Article 3 and to comply with the priorities laid down in Article 4 shall be as follows:

- analysis of obstacles to the deployment of EURO-ISDN and the means to be used to overcome them,

- promotion of end-to-end interoperability of telematic services,

- analysis and promotion of migration of applications to EURO-ISDN.

Article 6

The development of EURO-ISDN as a trans-European network shall be carried out pursuant to this Decision in the form of projects of common interest. Those projects shall be as listed in Annex II.

Article 7

This Decision shall not prejudice any financial commitment by a Member State or the Community.

Article 8

Member States shall encourage public network operators to put in place the infrastructure required for the development of EURO-ISDN in accordance with market demand and in compliance with Community rules.

Article 9

Participation by third countries which are parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or which have Association Agreements with the Community may in individual cases be authorized by the Council, under the procedure in Article 228 of the Treaty, to enable them to assist in carrying out projects of common interest and to promote the interconnection and interoperability of their ISDN.

Article 10

In 1997 the Commission shall carry out an overall evaluation of the guidelines defined in this Decision in the light of any change in the rules applicable to EURO-ISDN.

Article 11

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 12

This Decision shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at . . .

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ No C 259, 23. 9. 1993, p. 4.

(2) OJ No C 52, 19. 2. 1994, p. 40.

(3) OJ No C 217, 6. 8. 1994, p. 16.

(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 19 April 1994 (OJ No C 128, 9. 5. 1994, p. 42), Council common position of (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Decision of the European Parliament of (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(5) OJ No L 382, 31. 12. 1986, p. 36.

(6) OJ No C 196, 1. 8. 1986, p. 4.

(7) OJ No L 200, 18. 7. 1992, p. 10.

(8) OJ No C 158, 25. 6. 1992, p. 1.

ANNEX I

FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THE DEFINITIONS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 2

1. 'EURO-ISDN` in the context of this Decision refers to:

- the basic services enumerated in point 2,

- the basic rate access,

- the primary rate access,

- the international interfaces,

- the bearer capabilities for the services enumerated in point 3.

2. 'Basic services` in the context of this Decision are:

Bearer services:

- circuit mode 64 kbits/s unrestricted bearer service,

- circuit mode 3,1 kHz audio bearer service.

Supplementary services:

- calling line identification presentation service,

- calling line identification restriction service,

- multiple subscriber numbers,

- terminal portability, and

- direct dialling in.

Bearer capabilities:

- bearer capabilities which support the 'telematic services` listed in point 3.

3. 'Telematic services` in the context of the present Decision are:

- euro file transfer,

- electronic mail,

- generalized access to data bases (including videotex),

- videophony, and

- facsimile group 4.

The services and facilities referred to in this Annex are based on harmonized standards.

ANNEX II

PROJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EURO-ISDN AS A TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORK

1. Analysis of obstacles to the deployment of EURO-ISDN and the means to be used to overcome them

1.1. Identification and removal of obstacles

Objective: on the basis of the results of ongoing studies and new feasibility studies to recommend measure to improve the situation.

1.2. Trans-European interoperability between EURO-ISDN and packet switched data-transmission networks and services

Objective: To analyse the differences between existing plans and modes of use with a view to introducing integrated packet mode bearer services with ISDN access. The end-product should be a set of recommendations aimed at offering trans-European interoperable packet mode bearer services, which is a prerequisite for the migration of many applications to EURO-ISDN.

1.3. Trans-European interoperability between digital cellular mobile systems and EURO-ISDN

Objective: To identify the measures needed to ensure interoperability of non-voice services offered on digital cellular mobile networks and on EURO-ISDN.

2. Promotion of the end-to-end interoperability of telematic services

2.1. Promote access to equipment and services for interoperability testing, leading to the development of a Euro-label concept

Objective: To improve the access of SMEs (by appropriate terminal equipment) to advanced services by means of the voluntary Euro-label concept aimed at ensuring the compatibility of telematic non-voice services in a multi-vendor context and therefore eminently applicable to the marketing of software defined products. Implementation of the Euro-label based on interoperability testing (test sequences are lacking) of terminals (hardware and software) offered by different vendors.

2.2. Access to and use by SMEs of existing and planned European telematic services

Objective: To identify the requirements of SMEs in electronic mail, file transfer and universal access to data bases and promotion of 'communicating communities". This action complements activities in other areas not pertaining directly to ISDN which aim at encouraging the private sector to invest in the deployment of these trans-European telematic services.

3. Analysis and promotion of migration of existing applications to EURO-ISDN and promotion of new applications

3.1. EURO-ISDN for specific user groups

Objective: To enhance the communication means of a number of user groups by means of ISDN, which in particular permits the establishment, at low cost and at international level, of 'closed-circuit user groups`.

3.2. High quality image in the business sector

Objective: To improve the competitiveness of at least three business sectors, which might lead to job creation, through the use of high quality still image services; generalized access to image data bases for the media (electronic publishing), tourism, property market.

3.3. Trans-European access to catalogues and manuals

Objective: To provide recommendations on the ways of offering remote access to large files to undertakings which need frequent transborder access to catalogues and manuals (travelling salesmen, insurance inspectors, maintenance technicians, etc.).

3.4. EURO-ISDN for the promotion of telework

Objective: To demonstrate the advantages of telework.

3.5. EURO-ISDN for education, training and research

Objective: To achieve the advantages of distance learning, inter alia remedy the lack of qualifications of the unemployed, to support life-long-learning, to meet the needs of geographically dispersed populations.

3.6. EURO-ISDN for health care and social services

Objective: To improve the quality and cost effectiveness of the health care system and social services, including services for handicapped people.

3.7. EURO-ISDN in the cultural sector

Objective: To facilitate widespread access to culture in all its forms throughout Europe and hence to contribute to the preservation of the cultural identity and diversity of Europe.

4. Promotion of access to EURO-ISDN terminals

4.1. Validation experiments with SMEs for telematic services

Objective: To make users which could potentially benefit from EURO-ISDN based telecommunications aware of the advantages these systems could bring to the enhancement of their business processes and to contribute to the development of a critical mass of EURO-ISDN terminals in order to make them less expensive through widespread usage.

4.2. Promotion of a common application programming interface

Objective: To further the harmonization of application programming interfaces throughout the Community, thus enabling application software to be made independent of the underlying hardware platform.

5. One-stop shopping

Objective: To promote the definition of one-stop shopping principles and apply them to EURO-ISDN throughout the Community.

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. Introduction

1. The proposal accompanied the Commission communication to the Council and to the European Parliament on the development of the Integrated Services Digital Network as a trans-European network, submitted on 1 September 1993.

It is based on the first paragraph of Article 129d of the EC Treaty.

2. The European parliament delivered its opinion at first reading on 19 April 1994. The opinions of the Economic and Social Committee and of the Committee of the Regions were delivered on 21 December 1993 and 18 May 1994 respectively.

In the light of those opinions the Commission submitted an amended proposal on 17 November 1994.

3. The Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 189b (2) of the Treaty on 22 December 1994.

II. Objective

The purpose of the proposal is to establish guidelines identifying the objectives, priorities, broad categories of measures and a number of projects of common interest in order to develop ISDN as a trans-European network.

III. The common position

1. General comments

In its changes to the Commission proposal and its attitude to the European Parliament's amendments the Council was mainly guided by the desire to take proper account of the Bangemann Group report and the conclusions of the Corfu European Council. The changes in no way detract from the objectives of the original Commission proposal. This is true in particular for the definition of the projects of common interest in Annex II to the common position.

The other changes, which are either technical or editorial in nature, are principally designed to strengthen and clarify the text of the Decision, e. g. the insertion of a new Article 2 and an Annex I defining a number of technical terms used in the Decision.

It should also be noted that the Council has not yet acted on the proposal for a Decision on a multiannual Community action, the companion proposal to this Decision in the Commission communication. The Council chose to defer examination of this second Decision pending the conclusion of the discussions under way on the proposal for a Regulation laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks.

2. Specific comments

(i) The Council shared the Commission's view (see explanatory memorandum to amended Commission proposal) on European Parliament amendments 3, 4, 5 (first part) and 8, which have therefore not been incorporated into its common position.

(ii) With minor drafting changes, the Council has incorporated European Parliament amendments 6, 7 and 9 and has accepted the principle of amendment 5 (third part) (see Article 3, last indent of Article 5, Article 8 and Annex I of the common position).

(iii) The common position does not incorporate amendment 1, 2, 5 (second part) or 10, accepted by the Commission.

With specific reference to amendments 1, 2 and 5 (second part), the Council considered that the proposed changes prejudged the place of ISDN in the overall context of trans-European telecommunications networks; that place is as yet undefined and has still to be discussed.

Incorporation of amendment 10 proved unnecessary, as the Parliament's concerns have been met by the reformulation of the projects of common interest, which has broadened their scope.