17.2.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC40/101
CommitteeconsidersthattheECandtheMemberproposalsandapplytheminestablishingtheenviron
Statesshould,asamatterofurgency,adoptthesementfortheactivityoffirms.
DoneatBrussels,28November1991.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
FrancoisSTAEDELIN
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveontheadoptionofstandardsforsatellite
broadcastingoftelevisionsignals
(92/C40/24)
On30July1991theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,under
Article100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon6November1991,inthelight
oftheReportbyMrNoordwal.
Atits291stplenarysession(meetingof28November1991)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionbyalargemajorityvoteinfavourand2votes
against,with9abstentions .
1.Introductoryremarks
1.1.ThedraftDirectiveisputforwardtoprovide
continuityaftertheexpiryon31December1991ofthe
ECDirectivewhichiscurrentlyvalid—86/529/EEC(1).
ThispreviousDirective,adoptedunderArticle100of
theTreaty,i.e.byunanimousvoteofMemberStates
intheCouncil—andapprovedbyapositiveandunani­
mousOpinionoftheCommittee(2)—requiredMember
StatestoensureuseoftheMACPacketfamilyasthe
onlystandardpermittedintheCommunityfordirect
operationalsatellitetelevisionbroadcasting .
1.2.ThepresentdraftDirectiveseeksbothtotake
theplaceofthepreviousoneforthenexttenyears
andtoextendittocovernotonlyhigh-powerDirect
BroadcastingSatellites(DBS)asbeforebutalsolow­
powerFixedServiceSatellites(FSS)whichwereleft
asideintheearlierDirectivebecauseatthetimethese
satelliteswerethoughttohaveinsufficientpowertoprovidedirecthomereception.Indoingsoitprovides,
however,(Art.3)thatexistingsatelliteservicesusing
D-MAC,PALorSECAMstandardsforthehabitual
625line4:3formattransmissionsmaycontinueindefi­
nitely.
1.3.TheMACPacketfamilyofstandardshasbeen
developedinEuropetoallowfortheintroductionof
HighDefinitionTV(HDTV)—viz.1250lines,16:9
format—inthefuturewhileallowingforthemaximum
possibledegreeofcompatibility e.g.soastoavoid
necessarilyreplacingallexistingtelevisionsetsand
equipment.AssuchtheCommitteehasexpressedin
thepast(3)its'strongsupportforthedevelopmentof
EuropeanstandardsinHDTV'andinparticularfor
theEurekaEU95Projectasthe'standardcapableof
introducingHDTVwithoutmakingexistingsetsand
equipmentobsolete'.
t1)OJNoL311,6.11.1986.
(2)OJNoC189,28.7.1986.(3)ESCOpinionontheProposalforaCouncilDecisiononHigh
DefinitionTelevision(OJNoC159,26.6.1989,p.34).

NoC40/102- OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 17.2.92
2.Generalcomments
2.1.TheCommittee,mindfulofitsmanyOpinions
onmattersrelatedtonewtechnologies ,welcomessuch
newtechniquesinthefieldofHDTVwhichaimat
meetingconsumerdemandformoreprogrammesand
increasedculturalvariety,onconditionthatconsumers
conservetheirfreedomofchoice.AsitstatedinSep­
tember1990'Europeantelevisionsetmanufacturers
must,viacoordinatedtechnology-based andcompe­
tition-oriented productionpolicies,helpensurethatthe
newbreadthofchoicecanbeexploited'(1).2.3.1.2.FurtheracompletelynewTVsetwillbe
neededbothtoreceiveandtoreproduceprogrammes
inHDTV.
2.3.2.Thedecoderrequiredforsuchcompatibility
doesrepresentanadditionalcost.Thecostinvolved
dependsinanycaseonthescaleofproductionand
shouldgodownasoutputgoesup.
2.3.3.Inviewoftheaboveconsiderations ,convinced
oftheover-ridingimportanceforallconcernedofboth
aimingforandachievingcompatibilityandconscious
thatnootherexistingroutetoHDTVprovidesforthat,
theCommitteerenewsitssupportforasetofstandards
whichhave,initseyes,thegreatmeritsofbeingcompat­
iblewithexistingsystemsandhomeequipment,avail­
ablenoworinthenearfutureand,notleast,European
inconceptionandownership.
2.4.Inhis1989Opinion(2)ontheproposalfora
CouncilDecisiononHighDefinitionTelevisionthe
Committee'laysthegreatestpossiblestressonthevital
importanceoftheeconomicandsocialissuesatstake
andcallsontheCommunitytomobilizeallitsforces
unreservedlyandwiththeutmostvigourinsupportof
theeffortspursuedbyEuropeanindustryinthisfield'.
TheCommitteeonthatoccasionalsoemphasisedthe
needforthewidestconsultation .Itnowreconfirmsthe
positionittookbyanoverwhelming voteinfavourin
1989but,inthelightofanumberofreservations
regardingtheCommissiondraftexpressedbyinterested
parties,canonlyapprovetheproposalsubjecttothe
followingcommentsandchanges.2.2.Forthisprocesstosucceeditismostimportant
forthethreemainpartnersinvolvedintheaudio­
visualindustry—viz.theprogrammeproducers,the
broadcastersandre-distributors andtheequipment
manufacturers andsuppliers—toworktogetherand
toinformtheircustomersfullyandtruthfullyonthe
technicalandcommercialcharacteristicsoftheirprod­
ucts.Thecosttotheconsumerinthisfieldisnotjust
amatterofthepurchasepriceintheshopbutalsoof
serviceandrepaircosts,ofadditionalsupplementary
equipment,oflicensefeesorotherformsofpayment
forviewing,comparedineachcasetothestatusquo
orothertechnicalsolutions.
2.3.Compatibility
3.Specificcomments2.3.1.Whetherbetweenoldandnewequipmentor
betweendifferentsystems,e.g.D-MAC,PALand
SECAM,compatibility isattheheartofthedebateon
theusefulnessoftheMACPacketroutetoHDTV.
Consumerchoiceclearlysetsgreatstoreandvalueon
compatibility ;itisalsoamatterofgeneralandindus­
trialinterest,thoughnotnecessarilythatofparticular
producersorusers.UnlikeboththeJapaneseMUSE
systemand,inalllikelihoodtheUSdigitalsystem
currentlyindevelopment ,D2-MACandHD-MACare
designedtobecompatibleinthebroadestsense;thatis
tosaytheyare,inthefirstplace,compatiblebetween
themselves (D2-MACastheearliercurrentphaseof
technologyfollowedlaterbyHD-MACwithfullhigh
definition);inthesecondplace,byaddingadecoder,
thesecanbereceivedonsetscurrentlyexistingin
Europe.
2.3.1.1.However,oncurrentpublishedtechnology,
MACcannotprovideacompatiblepathformedium
poweredsatellitessincethesehaveinsufficientpower
forHD-MACreceptionbynormaldomesticdish
antennae.Alsoitisnotcompatiblewithterrestrial
broadcasting .3.1.Article1
ThisArticlerepeatstheinjunctiononMemberStates
fromthe1986Directive,albeitinweakerlanguage;e.g.
'toensure'in1986ischangedto'promoteandsupport'
in1991.Thelanguageversionsalsodiffermarginally;
inFrenchtheMemberStatesareenjoinedto'facilitate'
HD-MAC.TheCommitteeconsidersthisverygeneral
injunctiontobenecessaryandtheleastonecouldask
for.
3.2.Article2
TheCommitteeagreeswithArticle2.1.HD-MAC
shouldbetheonlyHDTVstandard.2.2howeverhas
tobemadeoptionalbydeletingtheword'only'.
(i)OJNoC332,31.12.1990,p.174. (2)OJNoC159,26.6.1989,p.36.

17.2.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunitiesNoC40/103
MakingMACcompulsoryfornewnon-HDTVservices
isanti-competitive —itwouldreducegrowthinthesat­
ellitemarketandentrenchthepositionofexistingoper­
atorsandincreasecosttotheconsumer.
3.3.Article4
TheobjectofthisArticleistoprovidetheconsumer
withawiderchoiceofprogrammesofhigherimage
quality.Thiswillprobablyentailaslightincreasein
thecostofbiggerdomesticTVsets,atleastuntilthe
stageofmassproductionofthenecessaryadditional
equipmenthasbeenattained.Whatisimportanthow­
everisthesuccessoftheD2-MACstandard,which
alonecaninthelongrunguaranteeconsumerfreedom
byincreasingthenumberofservicesavailablewithout
theneedtobuynewequipment .
3.3.1.ItmightappearhoweverthatthisArticlegoes
toofarinrequiringallsetswithscreensbiggerthan
52cmtohaveaD2-MACdecoder.TheD2-MAC
decodershouldonlyberequiredonsetscapableof
receivingsatellitetransmissions ,whetherdirectlyorvia
hyperbandorcable.Thus,onlyconsumersoptingfor
setsenablingthemtowatchsatellitetransmissions
wouldpayforaD2-MACdecoder.Suchaprovision
wouldleaveconsumersthechoicebetweenthetra­
ditionalandnewsatelliteservices.vertedtoPALorSECAMforre-distribution onlyifthe
optiontoreceivethemsimultaneously intheoriginal
D2-MAC/HD-MAC (Simulcast)isalsoprovided.
3.5.Article6
TheprovisionsofArticle8coverthedateofentryinto
forceoftheDirectiveinallrespects,includingthis
Article.Thereisthereforenoneedtointroduceinthis
Articleadditionaltimeconstraints,constraintswhich
couldmoreoverpreventadaptationtotechnicalpro­
gressinthefieldofconditionalaccesssystemsand
whichrepresentawrongapproachinprinciple.The
words'bythedateofimplementation ofthisDirective'
shouldthereforebedeleted.Thischangewouldpermit
improvedcompatibleaccesssystemswithastandard
interface,manufactured accordingtoarecognized
Europeanstandard,tobeusedevenifsuchstandardbe
approvedbyaEuropeanstandardization organization
afterthedateofimplementation oftheDirective.
3.6.Article7
TheCommittee issatisfiedthatthebiannualCom­
missionReportsontheapplicationoftheDirectivewill
besenttoit.Thisisimportantnotonlyasameansof
keepingthesocioprofessional groupsrepresentedon
theCommitteeinformedofprogresswiththeintroduc­
tionofthisnewtechnologyintheworldofmasscom­
municationsbutalsoofallowingtheCommitteeto
followcloselyandexpressitsviewsontheadaptation
oftheDirectivetomatchrapiddevelopments inthis
field.Havinginmindthattheseadaptationsarepro­
videdforwithintheproposedarrangements ,andthat
itwillitselfbeinvolved,theCommitteealsoendorses
theTen-yearperiodofvalidityproposed.
3.7.Otherbusiness
3.7.1.Thispossibilityofabuseinmattersofintellec­
tualpropertyinrespectofencryptionsystems,aswell
astheD2-MACandHD-MACsystemsingeneral,
needstobeaddressedinsomeway(forexampleina
recitaltotheDirective).Thereneedstobeanopen
licensingregimeformanufacture ,useandcompatibility
testing,inordertoensureafreeandcompetitivemar­
ket.ThiswouldbeinlinewiththeCommission'sCom­
municationonindustrialpolicyinanopenandcompeti­
tiveenvironment [doc.COM(90)556final].3.4.Article5
3.4.1.Firstindent:thisisnotclearlydraftedandsets
outintoogreatdetailtoprescribemattersbestleftto
commercialmanagement .
Withcurrenttechnology,theexistingproposalwould
limitthenumberofchannelswhichcableoperators
couldoffer.TheArticlethereforeshouldbemade
optionalsothatoperatorscantakeadvantageofthe
newMACdevelopmentswhenthemarketisright.
3.4.2.Secondindent:this,likethepreviousindent,
ispoorlydrafted.Itshouldstatequitesimplythat
existingstandardscanbeusedasbeforebutthatwhere
D2-MACandHD-MACarereceivedtheycanbecon­
DoneatBrussels,28November1991.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
FrancoisSTAEDELIN