Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council revising Annex I of Decision No 1336/97/EC on a series of guidelines for  trans-European telecommunications networks
Date: 2001-12-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, telecommunications, trans-European network

30.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/23

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council revising Annex I of
Decision No 1336/97/EC on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications
networks

(2002/C 103 E/05)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 742 final — 2001/0296(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 10 December 2001)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 156 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

2000 the Commission set out
emphasising the social dimension of
Society;

the eEurope initiative
the Information

(6) Annex I of Decision No 1336/97/EC of

the European
Parliament and the Council should therefore be revised
accordingly,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the treaty,

(7) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Decision are measures of general scope within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC
of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
exercise of
conferred on the
Commission (1), they should be adopted by use of the regu-
latory procedure provided for in Article 5 of that Decision,

implementing powers

Whereas:

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

(1) Article 14 of Decision No 1336/97/EC of the European
Parliament and the Council requires the Commission to
submit a report every three years on the implementation
of the Decision to the European Parliament, the Council,
the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of
the Regions;

(2) The Commission submitted this report on [. . .];

(3) Article 14 of Decision No 1336/97/EC of the European
Parliament and the Council requires the Commission to
submit appropriate proposals for revision of Annex I on
the basis of technical developments and experience gained;

(4) The Court of Auditors Special Report No 9/2000 made
recommendations which have been addressed in the
report of the Commission;

(5) In its Communication on a Commission Initiative for the
Special European Council of Lisbon, 23 and 24 March

Article 1

1. Article 8(2) is replaced by the following:

‘2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regu-
latory procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision
1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7(3)
and Article 8 thereof.

The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be three months.’

2. Annex I

to Decision No 1336/97/EC of

the European
Parliament and the Council shall be replaced by Annex I
of this decision.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

30.4.2002

ANNEX

IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST

Trans-European telecommunications networks will introduce innovative trans-European services in the general interest.
The services will contribute to the development of the information society in terms of growth, employment, social
cohesion and participation for all in the knowledge-based economy.

TEN-Telecom supports the technical and commercial feasibility, validation, and deployment of services. Services must be
innovative, trans-European and based on proven technology:

— a service may be launched in separate Member States with appropriate adaptation in each State,

— a service that has already been deployed in a single Member State may be extended to other Member States,

— a service may be implemented in a single Member State of demonstrably trans-European interest.

Whilst a service should be trans-European, it may be launched by one or more organisations based in a single Member
State. The participation of organisations from more than one Member State will however be encouraged.

In this context, projects of common interest shall be identified on the basis of their operational capability to support the
objectives laid down in this Decision.

The projects of common interest described below shall be on three levels, forming a coherent structure.

— Applications

Applications serve user needs, taking into account cultural and linguistic differences and the requirements of
disabled people. Where it is applicable, they shall accommodate the specific needs of less developed or less
populated regions

— Generic services

Generic services shall support applications' common requirements by providing common tools for the development
and implementation of new applications based on interoperable standards. They shall provide services for the
transfer and integrity of data across networks.

— Interconnection and interoperability of networks

Support will be provided for the interconnection,
operation of specific public interest applications and services.

interoperability and security of networks underpinning the

The following sections identify at each level of the trans-European networks the projects of common interest that must
be specified in accordance with Article 9 and under the procedure laid down in Article 8.

1. Applications

— eGovernment and eAdministration: more efficient,

interactive, and integrated governmental services constitute a
major opportunity of the information society. Services will be supported at all levels, European, national, regional
and local, such as those for electronic procurement, tourism, personal security, and business support for SMEs.
Environmental applications and services will be supported for surveillance, monitoring and information access.
Services may be provided by, or with the support of, public authorities as a service in the public interest
benefiting citizens and SMEs.

— Health: health telematics networks and services offer significant opportunities for the improvement of access and
quality of care, as well as containing the cost of health expenditure caused by medical advances and demographic
changes. Innovative services will be supported linking health care institutions and other points of care, and
providing health services directly to the public, in particular supporting actions on disease prevention and health
promotion.

— Disabled and elderly: developments in network communications offer significant opportunities for the participation
of older people and people with disabilities in the information society. Network applications and services
addressing their specific needs are able to contribute to the overcoming of socio-economic, geographical and
cultural barriers. Services will be supported catering for the requirements of older people and people with
disabilities with the purpose of promoting their full integration and participation in the information society.

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— Learning and culture: high levels of education, training and cultural awareness are crucial to economic development
and social cohesion. Their importance will continue to be underlined in future with the increasing influence of
technology in the information society. Services will be supported providing new innovative ways of presenting
educational and cultural information, including services for life-long-learning.

2. Generic services

— Advanced mobile services: trails are underway on the interoperability aspects of innovative applications for 2.5-3G
mobile networks. They will establish the basis for advanced end-to-end solutions in the mobile environment
providing location based, personalised, and context sensitive services. Support will be provided for the launch of
advanced mobile applications and services in the general interest including those for navigation and guidance,
traffic and travel information, network security and billing, m-commerce, m-business and mobile work, learning
and culture, emergency services and health.

— Trust and confidence services: the active involvement of businesses and citizens in the information society is
dependent on their trust and confidence in the available services. Security is therefore a priority issue presenting
a major challenge for the future. Support will be provided for services in the public interest aimed at all aspects
of security including co-operation for effective networking within the European Union on national CERT systems.

3. Interconnection and interoperability of networks

— Interconnection and interoperability: the interconnection and interoperability of networks is a pre-requisite for
effective trans-European services. Support will be provided for
interoperability and
security of networks necessary for the operation of specific public interest services. Projects concerning the
development and enhancement of telecommunications networks will receive particular scrutiny to ensure that
there is no interference with free market conditions.

the interconnection,

4. Supplementary support and co-ordination actions

In addition to its support for projects of common interest, the Community shall initiate actions aimed at providing
the appropriate environment for the realisation of the projects. The actions will contribute to programme awareness,
consensus development and concerted efforts concerning European, national, regional and local activities for stimu-
lation and promotion of new applications and services, in conformity with the implementation of programmes in
other areas, as well as the development of broadband networks. They will
involve consultation with European
standardisation and strategic planning bodies and co-ordination with actions funded by the different Community
financial instruments, including:

— strategic studies toward target specifications, and transition towards these targets. These specifications will help

sector actors to make sound economic investment decisions,

— definition of means of accessing broadband networks,

— establishment of common specifications based on European and world standards,

— furthering co-operation among sector actors, including public and private partnerships (PPP),

— co-ordination of the activities undertaken under this Decision with related Community and national programmes.