OPINION OF THE COMMISSION pursuant to Article 189 b (2) (d) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks
Date: 1996-09-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: communications policy, coordination of EMU policies, information policy, transmission network

COMMISSION  OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  17.09.1996 
COM(96) 444 final 

95/0124  (COD) 

OPINION  OF THE  COMMISSION 
pursuant to Article  189 b (2) (d) of the EC Treaty, 
on the European  Parliament's  amendments 
to the Council's common  position  regarding the 

proposal  for  a 
EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND COUNCIL  DECISION 

on a series of guidelines 

for trans-European telecommunications networks 

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL  OF THE  COMMISSION 
pursuant to Article  189 a (2) of the EC Treaty 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

Introduction 

1.1 

1.2 

1.3 

1.4 

On  8  June  1995 the  Commission  sent  the European  Parliament  and  the  Council  a 
proposal  for  a  European  Parliament  and  Council  Decision  on  a  series  of 
guidelines  for  trans-European  telecommunications  networks  (COM(95)  224 
Final). 

On  21  March  1996 the  Council  adopted  a  common  position  on  the  Commission's 
proposal, in accordance with the second indent of Article 189b(2) of the EC Treaty. 

On  17  July  1996  the  European  Parliament  adopted  its  opinion  on  the  Council's 
common position, in accordance with Article 189b(2)(d) of the EC Treaty. 

This  text  sets  out  the  Commission's  opinion  on  the  26  amendments  adopted  by 
Parliament,  in  accordance  with  Article  189b(2)(d)  of  the  EC  Treaty.  The  reasons 
underlying that opinion  are given  in paragraph  3 below.  In addition,  in Annex  I, the 
left-hand  column contains the text of the parts of the common position concerned by 
the amendments accepted  by the Commission  and the right-hand column the text of 
those parts altered in accordance with the amendments accepted. 

2. 

Aim of the proposal 

The proposal  aims at  the adoption by the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council, in 
accordance with the codecision procedure, of a series of guidelines (within the meaning 
of  Article  129c  of  the  Treaty  on  European  Union)  consisting  of  the  objectives, 
priorities, main lines of measures and spheres of common-interest  projects,  for trans-
European  telecommunications  networks.  In the  spheres of common-interest  projects 
identified  in  Annex  I  to  the  Decision,  it  is  planned  that,  on  the  basis  of  a  work 
programme updated as necessary (probably every year), the Commission  will publish 
calls for proposals designed to specify, on the basis of the specification criteria covered 
by Annex H, projects  of specific  common  interest,  with the assistance  of a type Ilia 
committee). 

The proposal stresses the priority given to applications of common interest  which, in 
the context  of opening up competition in the  sector,  are those through  which public 
intervention,  notably  by  stimulating  partnerships  between  the  public  and  private 
sectors, can provide Community citizens, businesses and administrations with the set of 
tools they need to enter the Information Society. 

3. 

Commission  position on the amendments  presented  at a second  reading by  the 
European Parliament 

3.1 

Amendments accepted 

The Commission accepts eight of the 26 amendments adopted by Parliament, namely 
Nos 1, 3, 5, 16, 20, 23, 25 and 27. 

Amendment  1 points  out  that  the  trans-European  network  projects  are  operational 
rather than experimental projects, and makes the necessary coordination applicable to 
all  the  projects  concerned  by  decisions  on  trans-European  networks,  rather  than 
referring only to IDA. Both changes are appropriate. 

Amendment  3 provides for  coordination to ensure interoperability  of trans-European 
networks and national networks of the same type. 

Amendment  5 is  relevant  in  pointing  out  that  the  setting-up  of  the  trans-European 
networks  will  also  provide  experience  on  the  effects  of  these  networks  on  social 
activity. 

Amendment 16 adds useful detail under the heading "distance education and training". 

Amendment 20 adds useful detail under the heading "cultural and linguistic heritage". 

Amendment 23 aptly points out the benefits of developing intelligent agents and tools 
for personalizing applications. 

Amendment 25 proposes a more precise text on coordination between Community and 
national programmes. 

Amendment  27  incorporates  into  the  body  of  the  Decision  what  amounts  to  a 
Commission statement defining the transnational nature of trans-European networks. 

3.2 

Amendments acceptable in part 

The  Commission  can  accept  two  amendments  in  part  (one  of  which  implies  full 
acceptance of two other amendments), since they tighten up the provisions of the act 
These are amendments 9 and 15 (linked to 13 and 21). 

The  end  of  amendment  9  underlines  a  Treaty  obligation  that  is  important  for  the 
implementation of the Decision. 

Amendment  15 is useful, after deletion of the excessively radical part concerning local 
languages, and the final part, linked to the problem of the decision-making mechanism. 

This  amendment,  in  combination  with  amendments  13  and  21  (which  deletes  the 
heading  "Citizens' access to  services",  is of a  fairly  horizontal  nature  and fits more 
logically  into the introduction  of the applications),  organizes the introduction  of the 
spheres  relating to  applications more rationally  and  clearly.  Amendments  13 and  21 
could therefore be accepted in full. These three amendments form a whole and should 
be treated together. 

The Commission has incorporated the parts of the text of amendments 9 and 15 that it 
can accept, together with amendments 13 and 21 in full, into the amended proposal set 
out in Annex I. 

3.3 

Amendments which cannot be accepted 

This concerns the six amendments Nos  12, 17,  18,  19, 22 and 24, namely a group of 
amendments concerning the decision-making mechanism for specific projects. 

The reasons behind the Commission position on these amendments are as follows: 

Amendment  12 proposes  a  text  which  is too  restrictive  for  a  sector  where  private 
initiative is of prime importance: the text of the common position guarantees Member 
States' support for projects, which is more in line with their level of involvement in the 
projects and appears to be sufficient. 

Amendment  17 relates to a sphere which has had to be reworded to bring it into line 
with the TEN-transport  guidelines  as adopted.  The reference  to  transport  priorities, 
added  by this amendment,  is not justified,  since the  new wording  covers  only user-
oriented  services,  not  the traffic  management  services  to  which  the  added  priorities 
could be applied. 

The Commission would have liked to retain the concept  of amendment  18. in a form 
blending less restrictively elements covered by the Decision and others relating more to 
labour legislation. It could have been worded as follows: 

"Special  attention should be paid  to  assessing and  taking account of  the social 
consequences of the applications." 

However, since the procedure at second reading does not allow the original wording of 
Parliament's  amendments  to  be  amended,  the  Commission  has  to  reject  this 
amendment. 

Amendment  19 is not sufficiently  focused  and does not allow for an itemized approach 
adapted to the different  aspects of teleadministration. 

Amendments 22 and  24  create  a certain  confusion  regarding  the  respective  roles of 
generic services and of applications. 

Amendments Nos 2. 6. 7. 8. beginning of 9.  10. 11.  14 and 26 concern the decision 
making mechanism for specific projects. The management mechanism presented in the 
original proposal  and retained in the common  position  provides for  the adoption by 
codecision  of  the  objectives,  priorities,  spheres  of  common-interest  projects  and 
project  specification  criteria,  i.e.  all  the  key  elements  of  the  management  of  the 
programme. The only additional variable is the situation of the sector at the moment 
that,  on the basis of these factors  laid  down  by the Parliament  and the  Council, the 
Commission, assisted by the Committee, publishes the call for proposals with a view to 
assembling  the  market's  offers  of  projects;  none  of  the  three  institutions  has  any 
influence over that situation at that particular moment. 

The  amendments  concerned  fundamentally  change  the  common  position  on  three 
points: 

They require the work  programme on which the annual  call for  proposals is 
based,  and  the  list  of  common-interest  projects  resulting from that  call  for 
proposals, to be adopted through codecision; since that procedure takes some 
18 months, that provision alone would render the Decision impractical. 
They  impose  a priority  order  among  the  priorities  set  out  in  Article  3; this 
reduces excessively the flexibility required to adapt the action to the situation 
of the sector. Moreover, the use of the priorities of Article 3 in combination 
with the project  specification  criteria of Annex II already establishes a system 
with rigid constraints in which it is also difficult  to take account  of a priority 
order among the priorities. 
They change the nature of the committee when in fact the Commission prefers 
not to deviate from a well established practice for the management of identical 
decision-making mechanisms, notably as regards research programmes. 

The Commission was therefore unable to accept this group of amendments. 

Conclusion 

The Commission recommends that the Council approve the amended proposal set out 
la Annex I. 

AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT 

AND THE COUNCIL 

on a series of guidelines 

for trans-European telecommunications  networks 

COMMON POSITION 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 
(Amendment 1) 

Recital 17 

Recital 17 

Whereas effective  coordination needs to be 
ensured  between  the  development  of  the 
telecommunications 
trans-European 
networks,  which  must  address  real-world 
concerns,  and  the  different  Community 
programmes,  in  particular 
the  specific 
the  fourth  framework 
programmes  of 
technological 
research, 
programme  for 
demonstration, 
and 
development 
of  SMEs, 
programmes 
information-content-
comprising 
oriented  programme (such  as INFO 2000, 
MEDIA  2) and  other  Information  Society 
activities; whereas  such  coordination  must 
also be ensured with the projects provided 
for  by  Council  Decision  95/468/EC  of  6 
November 
a  Community 
contribution  for  telematic  interchange  of 
data  between  administrations 
the 
Community (IDA) 

1995  on 

favour 

in 
an 

in 

Whereas effective coordination needs to be 
ensured  between  the  development  of  the 
telecommunications 
trans-European 
networks,  which  must  address  real-world 
concerns,  without  attempting  to  carry  out 
purely  experimental  projects,  and 
the 
in 
different  Community  programmes, 
particular  the  specific  programmes  of  the 
fourth framework programme for research, 
and 
technological 
demonstration,  programmes  in  favour  of 
SMEs, comprising an  information-content-
oriented  programme  (such  as INFO  2000 
and  MEDIA  2)  and  other  Information 
Society 
such 
activities;  whereas 
coordination must also be ensured with the 
projects  provided  for  by  their  Decisions 
applying to trans-European networks: 

development 

COMMON POSITION 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 

Recital 22 

(22) Whereas the Commission will have to 
undertake actions to ensure interoperability 
of 
the 
the  networks  and  coordinate 
activities  of  the  Member  States  aiming  at 
trans-European 
of 
implementation 
telecommunications networks; 

Article 2, first indent 

-  facilitating  the  transition  towards  the 
Information  Society, 
to 
promote  satisfaction  of  social  and  cultural 
needs and to improve the quality of life; 

in  particular 

(Amendment 3) 
Recital 22 

actions 

(22)  Whereas the Commission will have 
to 
ensure 
undertake 
to 
interoperability  of 
the  networks  and 
coordinate  the  activities  of  the  Member 
implementation  of 
States  aiming  at 
trans-European 
telecommunications 
networks  and  of  comparable  national 
projects: 

(Amendment 5) 

Article 2, first indent 

-  facilitating  the  transition  towards  the 
information  society  as  well  as  providing 
experience on the effects of the deployment 
of new networks and applications on social 
activities and to promote the satisfaction  of 
social  and  cultural  needs  and  to  improve 
the quality of life; 

COMMON POSITION 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 

Article 7 

1. 
A  draft  work  programme  shall  be 
prepared by the Commission, in conformity 
with  the  other  trans-European  network 
policies, 
sector 
in  consultation  with 
operators,  for  selecting  the  areas  in  which 
specific projects of common interest can be 
proposed,  within the spheres of projects of 
common  interest  set  out  in  Annex  I.  The 
work  programme  shall  be  updated  as 
necessary. 
2. 
The work  programme  shall  be  the 
basis  for  the  establishment  of  regular  calls 
for  proposals  for  projects  of  common 
interest by the Commission. 

Annex  I,  introduction,  second  paragraph, 
first  and second indents 

The  Applications 

layer,  through 
which  users  interact  with  generic  services 
and  basic  networks 
their 
professional,  educational  and  social  needs. 
Applications  require to  be  interoperable  to 
bring the maximum benefit  to  users across 
the Community. 

to  meet 

The  Generic  Services  layer,  made 
up of compatible generic  services and their 
management.  Through  support  of  the 
applications'  common  requirements,  these 
services  supplement  applications  whilst 
aiding their interoperability. 

(Amendment 9, accepted in part) 
Article 7 

1. 
A  draft  work  programme  shall  be 
prepared by the Commission, in conformity 
with  the  other  trans-European  network 
policies, 
sector 
in  consultation  with 
operators,  for  selecting  the  areas  in which 
specific  projects  can  be  proposed,  within 
the spheres of projects of common interest 
set  out  in Annex  I.  The  work  programme 
shall be updated as necessary. 

2. 
The  work  programme  shall  be  the 
basis for  the  establishment  of  regular  calls 
for  proposals  for  projects  of  common 
interest by the Commission. 

3. 
The  Commission  shall  ensure  that 
projects  relating  to  the  territory  of  a 
the 
Member  State  are  approved  bv 
Member State concerned. 

(Amendment  13) 

Annex  I,  introduction,  second  paragraph, 
first  and second indents 

The  Applications  layer,  through 
which  users  interact  with  generic  services 
and  basic  networks 
their 
professional, educational and social needs. 

to  meet 

The  Generic  Services  layer,  made 
up of compatible generic services and their 
management.  Through  support  of  the 
applications' common requirements, and by 
providing  common  tools  for  development 
and  implementation  of  new  applications. 
these  services  supplement  applications 
whilst aiding their interoperability. 

COMMON POSITION 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 

(Amendment 15, accepted in part) 

Annex 1(1), introduction 

Annex 1(1), introduction 

Applications will  need  to  be  interoperable 
with  one  another  to  bring  the  maximum 
benefit  to the users across the Community. 
Where  this  can  be  applicable,  they  shall 
take  into  account  the  specific  needs  of 
women  and  of  less  developed  or  less 
populated  regions.  They  must  address  the 
widest  possible  populations  of  users  and 
demonstrate  citizens' access  to  services  of 
the  benefit  of 
collective 
disabled  people, 
requirements 
should  be  taken  into  account  in  the  early 
stage of the  planning of projects  and  with 
regard to access to services. An assessment 
of  the  social  and  societal  impact  of  the 
introduction  of  the  applications  shall  be 
carried out after they are deployed. 

interest.  For 

special 

The spheres in which  applications  projects 
of  common  interest  will  be  identified  are 
the following: 

The spheres in which  applications  projects 
of  common  interest  will  be  identified  are 
the following: 

Annex I (1), second indent 

Annex 1(1), second indent 

(Amendment  Î6) 

schools, 

colleges 

Distance  education  and  training: 
Advanced  distance  education  and  training 
services  should  be  made  accessible  to  all 
and 
individuals, 
businesses.  Centres  should  be  set  up  and 
made 
the 
remotely  accessible  across 
Community in order to provide courseware 
and  training  services  for  SMEs,  large 
companies,  education  systems,  and  public 
administrations.  New 
to 
professional  training  for  the  Information 
and 
Society 
promoted. 

be  developed 

approaches 

should 

Distance  education  and  training: 
Advanced  distance  education  and  training 
services  should  be  made  accessible  for  ail 
citizens,  schools,  colleges  and  businesses. 
Centres  should  be  set  up  and  made 
remotely accessible across Europe in order 
to provide courseware and training services 
for  SMEs,  large  companies,  education 
systems,  and  public  administrations.  New 
approaches 
academic, 
professional  and  language  training  should 
be developed  and  promoted  as part  of the 
transition towards the information society. 

general, 

to 

COMMON POSITION 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 

(Amendment 20) 

Annex 1(1), twelfth indent 

Annex 1(1), twelfth indent 

Cultural  and 

linguistic  heritage. 
Initiatives should be launched to  foster the 
preservation of and access to the European 
cultural  and  artistic  heritage,  and  to 
the 
demonstrate 
information  infrastructure  to  support  the 
development  of  local  content 
in  local 
languages and its dissemination. 

potential 

the 

of 

Cultural  and 

linguistic  heritage: 
Initiatives should be launched to  foster the 
preservation of and access to the European 
cultural  and  artistic  heritage,  and  to 
demonstrate 
the 
information  infrastructure  to  stimulate  and 
enhance 
and 
achievements as well  as to  encourage local 
content and its dissemination. 

endeavours 

potential 

creative 

the 

of 

Annex 1(1), thirteenth indent 

Annex 1(1), thirteenth indent 

(Amendment 21) 

to 

Citizens' 

services: 
access 
Applications demonstrating the possibilities 
of  citizens' access  to  services  of  collective 
interest  should be  set  up.  Examples  might 
include  the  establishment  of  kiosks  and 
access points in public areas, and the use of 
smart cards and electronic  wallets.  For the 
benefit 
special 
of  disabled  people, 
requirements  should  be taken  into account 
in the early stage of the planning of projects 
and with regard to access to services. 

delete 

10 

C O M M ON  POSITION 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 

(Amendment 23) 

Annex 1(2), second indent 

Annex 1(2), second indent 

of 

extension 

Progressive 

the 
generic  services  towards  a  multimedia 
environment.  These  services  will  offer 
end-users  access  to  multimedia  services, 
and might cover, but should not be limited 
to,  multi-media  mail,  high  speed  file 
including 
transfer  and  video  services, 
these 
Video-on-Demand. 
multimedia 
services  by  business  and 
residential  users  should  be  encouraged,  as 
well  as  the  integration  of  new  service 
elements  such  as  automatic  translation, 
speech 
user 
interfaces. 

recognition, 

graphical 

Use 

of 

of 

extension 

Progressive 

the 
generic  services  towards  a  multimedia 
environment.  These  services  will  offer 
end-users  access  to  multimedia  services, 
and might cover, but  should not be limited 
to,  multimedia mail, high speed file transfer 
and  video  services,  including  Video-on-
Demand. Use  of these  multimedia  services 
by business and residential  users  should be 
encouraged,  as  well  as  the  integration  of 
new  service  elements  such  as  machine 
translation,  speech  recognition,  graphical 
user interfaces,  intelligent  agents  and  tools 
for user interaction and personalization. 

(Amendment 25) 

Annex 1(4), fifth indent 

Annex 1(4), fifth indent 

Coordination  of 

the  activities 
undertaken under this Decision with related 
Community and national programmes. 

Coordination between the activities 
undertaken  under  this  Decision»  related 
Community  programmes  and 
similar 
national programmes 

II 

COMMON POSITION 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 

(Amendment 27) 

Annex II, first paragraph 

Annex H, first paragraph 

The  specification  of  projects  of  common 
interest  among  the  projects  presented  by 
interested sector actors in response to a call 
for  proposals  as mentioned  in Article  7 is 
made on the basis of their compliance with 
the  objectives  and  priorities  laid  down  in 
Articles  2 
and 3 respectively.  These 
projects must be transnational  in the sense 
that they shall be conceived to satisfy needs 
in  several  Member  States.  This  does  not 
their 
prevent 
the 
deployment  -  designed 
the 
technical  and  commercial  viability  of  the 
project - from being carried out in a single 
Member  State,  if  it  appears  that  the 
conditions prevailing in that Member State 
are  representative  of  those  in  the  other 
Member  States  where 
is 
ultimately to be implemented. 

initial  phase  of 

the  project 

to  check 

The  specification  of  projects  of  common 
interest  among  the  projects  presented  by 
interested sector actors in response to a call 
for  proposals  as mentioned  in Article  7 is 
made on the basis of their compliance with 
the  objectives  and  priorities  laid  down  in 
Articles 2 and 3 respectively. 

12 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(96) 444 final 

NTS 

15 

EN 

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ISBN 92-78-08771-8 

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