WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3051/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Numbering policy for telecommunications services
Date: 1997-10-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: approximation of laws, cost-benefit analysis, harmonisation of standards, liberalisation of the market, single market, telecommunications, telecommunications industry, telephone, trans-European network, transmission network

C 117/140

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

16. 4. 98

(98/C 117/187)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3051/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Numbering policy for telecommunications services

With regard to the Green Paper on a numbering policy for telecommunications services in Europe (COM(96) 590
final), consideration should be given to the harmonization and synchronization of the process of introducing
selection  and  pre-selection.  Support  should  be  given  for  the  introduction  of  number  portability  as  soon  as
possible with effect from 1 January 1998, as regards the portability of the installation (local area), the service and
the service provider (including number portability for special services), if technically feasible. The European
numbering area also needs to be established as soon as possible, while constantly reviewing the economic and
social benefits to be derived from its implementation.

With this in view, what role is to be played by the new European authority that is to be set up and how will it
operate?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(23 October 1997)

In  the  numbering  green  paper  of  November  1996,  the  Commission  submitted  to  public  consultation  various
policy  options  concerning  numbering  issues.  Among  these  options  was  the  creation  of  a  new  structure  for
regulation and administration of numbers in Europe. This structure would have an important role in one of the
more ambitious scenarios proposed, namely the harmonisation of national numbering schemes. However, on the
basis of the results of the consultation, the Commission concluded in its communication of May 1997 (1) that, at
present, there was insufficient support for a more far reaching harmonisation of national numbering schemes.
This assessment may change in the light of new market demands after full liberalisation and a further cost-benefit
analysis should therefore be conducted in a few years from now.

In the short term, the only new task for numbering management at the European level would follow from the
creation of a European telephony numbering space (ETNS) on the basis of the 388 country code, as proposed in
the Commission communication of May. However, the scale of this ETNS would not justify the creation of a
European numbering authority and the Commission has proposed to charge the existing European telecommu-
nications office (ETO) with the management of the ETNS, in any case in the early stages.

By the end of 1999, the Commission will conduct a review of the Community(cid:146)s telecommunications regulatory
framework  in  the  light  of  the  requirements  of  the  liberalised  telecommunications  markets.  The  need  for  a
European regulatory authority for telecommunications will be reconsidered as part of that review.

(1)  COM(97) 203 final.

(98/C 117/188)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3054/97

by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission

(2 October 1997)

Subject: Reform of the COM in olive oil

The Commission has submitted a note to the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on the olive and
olive oil sector (including economic, cultural, regional, social and environmental aspects), the current common
market organization, the need for a reform and the alternatives envisaged (COM(97) 57 final).

From the political point of view, the Commission proposal fails to promote the development of the Community(cid:146)s
traditional olive-growing regions.