WRITTEN QUESTION P-0992/04 by Francesco Fiori (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Telecommunications.
Date: 2004-03-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU office or agency, liberalisation of the market, regulation of telecommunications, single market, supervisory power, telecommunications

C 88 E/264

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

The Commission is supporting research projects such as the AWAKE (3) project under the 5th Framework
Programme, which aims to improve our understanding of the causes, other than just lack of sleep,
of tiredness leading to road accidents, and to develop technology to detect hypo-vigilance and alert the
driver.

The Commission will continue to promote research in this field.

(1)

In particular Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85 and 3821/85, OJ L 370, 31.12.1985, and Directive 2002/15/EC,
OJ L 80, 23.3.2002.

(2) COM(2003) 628 final.
(3) Assessment of driver vigilance and Warning According to traffic risK Estimation.

(2004/C 88 E/0269)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0992/04

by Francesco Fiori (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 March 2004)

Subject: Telecommunications

The new regulatory framework enables authorities to intervene in the telecommunications market and
gives them broad discretionary powers when deciding which obligations would be most appropriate in
order to remedy market failure. The directives do not provide sufficiently detailed guidance on how to
modulate regulatory action in terms of the possible range of obligations which the authorities may impose.

The Commission indicated in its 2004 work programme that it had adopted a recommendation seeking to
lay down guidelines for choosing regulatory action in accordance with the proportionality principle and in
keeping with the regulatory objectives laid down in the framework directive.

In its 2004 work programme the ERG states that it plans to adopt a document which it calls a ‘draft joint
ERG/EC approach on appropriate remedies in the new regulatory framework’. For harmonisation purposes,
legislative action is indeed required in order to establish criteria for the application of remedies in the new
regulatory framework. Clarifications should therefore be provided as to the legal status of the joint ERG/EC
approach and its role in the Community and national legal systems.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The new regulatory framework has the objective of achieving a harmonised framework for the regulation
of electronic communications services, electronic communications networks, associated facilities and
associated services. However, a regulator’s choice of the particular remedy or remedies to be applied to
firms with significant market power is addressed at national level. Aside from exceptional remedies (which
are in any case subject to Commission control), all remedies available to be imposed on undertakings
designated as having Significant Market Power (SMP) are laid out in Articles 9 to 13 of the Access and
Interconnection Directive (1) and in Chapter III of the Universal Service Directive (2).

As set out in Article 7(2) of the Framework Directive (3), national regulatory authorities, when exercising
their independent powers under the new regulatory framework, must contribute to the development of the
internal market by co-operating with each other, and with the Commission, in a transparent manner to
ensure consistent application of the framework. In particular, national regulatory authorities must seek to
agree on the types of instruments and remedies best suited to address particular types of situations in the
market place.

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/265

This is the basis upon which the European Regulators Group (ERG) has adopted an ERG Common Position
on the approach to appropriate remedies in the new regulatory framework. Directorate-General
(DG)
Information Society and DG Competition collaborated with the ERG in preparing this document, but the
Common Position remains a document of the ERG.

(1) Directive 2002/19/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on access to, and interconnection of,

electronic communications networks and associated facilities, OJ L 108, 24.4.2002.

(2) Directive 2002/22/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal service and users’ rights

relating to electronic communications networks and services, OJ L 108, 24.4.2002.

(3) Directive 2002/21/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework

for electronic communications networks and services, OJ L 108, 24.4.2002.

(2004/C 88 E/0270)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0994/04

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

(31 March 2004)

Subject: Child protection and future EU programmes aimed at young people

In view of
its publication on 9 March 2004 of the two communications on future education and
citizenship policies after 2006, ‘The new generation of education and training programmes’ and ‘Making
citizenship work’, how will the Commission ensure that the issue of child protection is comprehensively
addressed in the legislative programmes on future EU education and citizenship programmes due to be
issued later this year?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The Honourable Member raises the issue of child protection in the new generation of education, training
and citizenship programmes planned by the Commission (1). The Commission is fully aware of the need to
ensure maximum protection for young people, while respecting the different areas of competence. It has
already taken a number of initiatives in the areas in which it is competent to act. Examples are Council
Directive 94/33/EC on the protection of young people at work (2),
the Recommendation on the
development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by
promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of
minors and human dignity (3) and the multiannual Community action plan on promoting safer use of the
Internet and new online technologies by combating illegal and harmful content, primarily in the area of
the protection of children and minors (4).

However, child protection remains an essentially national matter and it is up to the Member States to take
initiatives in this field.

In its proposals for a new generation of education, training and citizenship programmes, the Commission
envisages two types of measures:

(cid:1) ‘centralised’ activities, managed directly by the Commission;

(cid:1) ‘decentralised’ activities, for which national agencies appointed by the authorities in the participating

countries are responsible.

These ‘decentralised’ activities should account for most of the budget, and it is essentially in this area that
activities involving young people, e.g. mobility projects, will be supported.