Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and services"
Date: 2001-01-24
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: communications policy, electronic equipment, harmonisation of standards, single market, trade licence, transmission network

25.4.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 123/55

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and
services’

(2001/C 123/12)

On 25 October 2000 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 7 December 2000. The rapporteur
was Mr Lagerholm.

At its 378th plenary session on 24 and 25 January 2001 (meeting of 24 January) the Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion with 79 votes in favour and one abstention.

1.

The Commission’s Proposal

1.1.
The proposed directive is part of a new regulatory
framework for all transfer networks and services, designed to
secure the competitiveness of the electronic communications
market. On the basis of the proposed Directive on a common
regulatory framework for electronic communications net-
works and services (1), the present proposal
is intended to
replace the current directive 97/13/EC (2) on a common
framework for general authorisations and individual licences
In its 1999
in the field of
Communications Report (3) the Commission expressed serious
misgivings regarding the transposition of the directive.

telecommunications services.

1.2.
In the Community, there is at present no harmonised
approach to authorising market entry for communications
service providers, but fifteen very different national regimes.
Moreover,
the incipient development of a pan-European
service should be actively supported. An efficient, smoothly
operating single market can be achieved by means of thorough
simplification of individual Member States’ rules and regu-
lations.

1.3.
The present proposal intends to cover all electronic
communications services and networks under a general auth-
orisation and to limit
the use of specific rights to the
assignment of radio frequencies and numbers only. It restricts
the number of conditions which may be imposed on service
providers and aims to ensure that no information is required
as a prior condition for market entry and that a systematic
verification of compliance with conditions attached to author-
isations is confined to those conditions for which this is
objectively justified.

(1) COM(2000) 393 final.
(2) European Parliament and Council Directive of 10 April 1997: OJ

L 117, 7.5.1997.

(3) Towards a new framework for Electronic Communications infra-
structure and associated services — The 1999 Communications
Review COM(1999) 539 final, ESC opinion in OJ C 204,
18.7.2000.

1.4.
By simplifying the procedures, the administration costs
would be considerably reduced. The proposed directive limits
charges imposed on service providers to administrative costs
only with the requirement for Member States to publish such
costs; it also foresees an adjustment of charges.

1.5.
Fees for spectrum and number usage are allowed if
the principles of non-discrimination, transparency, objective
justification and proportionality are adhered to and are in
keeping with policy objectives regarding the development of
innovative services and competition. The CEPT should con-
tinue to play a key role in the harmonisation of the assignment
of radio frequencies.

2. Comments

2.1.
In its Opinion on the 1999 Communications Review
the Committee stated its view that ‘harmonisation of licensing
conditions in both formal and practical terms is needed. The
system should be based on general authorisations except
where the issue concerns access to frequencies and numbers.
Accordingly, harmonisation should not lead to the introduc-
tion of a more burdensome regulatory regime in markets
where, for example, general authorisations do not require any
pre-registration’.

The ESC welcomes the proposed Directive, which it

2.2.
considers well balanced.

C 123/56

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25.4.2001

2.3.
The ESC is pleased that the proposal addresses the
issue of fundamental licensing motives. As the Commission
points out, licensing has in some cases become very costly
without basically benefiting end-users. A single European
market can only be achieved if licensing is harmonised at a
low level of intervention. That has proved effective in several
Member States.

2.4.
It is important that conditions for the authorisation of
operations do not include non sector-specific obligations. The
Committee is pleased to see that this is explicitly stated in
Article 6 of the Directive and also welcomes recital 14’s
specification that it is not necessary to require systematic and
regular proof of compliance with all conditions. This can be
seen as a positive step towards reducing the burden the rules
place on companies.

2.5.
The ESC agrees with the Commission that licences
should only be used in the case of scarce radio spectrum and
telephone numbers, and that administrative charges should be
set so as to cover only those administrative costs that are
incurred under the proposed minimal regulation. There seems
to be growing concern that IT users will be forced to contribute
to spectrum licensing costs, which can significantly exceed
administrative costs besides being totally unconnected with
the outcome at auction.

2.6.
The proposed Authorisations Directive should, in the
Committee’s view, be amended so as to explicitly prohibit the
charging of one-time fees that are not used for purposes which
can boost spectrum efficiency or are not part of an auction
procedure or some other system in which the price is used as
a means to achieve efficient radio spectrum allocation.

Brussels, 24 January 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications
networks and services’

(2001/C 123/13)

On 16 October 2000 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 7 December 2000. The rapporteur
was Mr Lagerholm.

At its 378th plenary session on 24 and 25 January 2001 (meeting of 24 January) the Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion with 77 votes in favour and one abstention.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
Since 1990 the Commission has progressively put
in place a comprehensive regulatory framework for the
liberalisation of the telecommunications market. This has
been vital to the EU’s global competitiveness. An advanced

communications industry is a precondition for Europe’s tran-
sition to the information society. The Lisbon European Council
of 23-24 March 2000 highlighted the potential for growth,
competitiveness and job creation of the shift to a digital,
knowledge-based economy. In particular, it emphasised the
importance for Europe’s businesses and citizens of access to
an inexpensive, world-class communications infrastructure
and a wide range of services.