CELEX: 51996PC0108
Language: en
Date: 1996-03-20
Title: Amended proposal for a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                Brussels, 20.03.1996
                                                COM(96) 108 final
                                                95/0124 (COD)
                          Amended proposal for a
        EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks
         (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                              of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                             EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
 1. Introduction
 1.1        On 31 May 1995 the Commission adopted a proposal for a European Parliament and
Council Decision on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks
(COM(95)224 final). This proposal was submitted to the European Parliament and the Council
on 8 June 1995.
 1.2       The Economic and Social Committee endorsed the proposal on 22 November 1995.
 1.3       The Council reached agreement on the proposal on 27 November 1995.
 1.4       The Committee of the Regions endorsed the proposal on 18 January 1996.
 1.5       The European Parliament adopted its opinion on first reading on 1 February 1996. This
proposed 35 amendments to the text originally proposed by the Commission.
 1.6       The Commission can accept 13 of these amendments, 5 others in part and 4 more in
principle. It is unable to accept the remaining 13 amendments.
 1.7       The reasons which prompted the Commission to take these positions on the
amendments are explained in Section 3 below. The full text of the original proposal (left-hand
column) is set out alongside the full text of the amended proposal (right-hand column) in Annex
1.
2. Objective of the proposal
The objective of this proposal is for the European Parliament and Council to adopt, following
the codecision procedure, a series of guidelines (as provided for by Article 129c of the Treaty
on European Union) covering the objectives, priorities and broad lines of measures envisaged
and the domains for projects of common interest in the field of trans-European
telecommunications networks. In the domains for projects of common interest identified in
Annex 1 to the Decision, it is proposed that the Commission publish calls for proposals in order
to select specific projects of common interest, with the assistance of a type Ilia committee, based
on a work programme updated whenever necessary (probably every year).
The proposal gives priority to applications of collective interest where, in the context of opening
up the sector to competition, public intervention, particularly in the form of encouraging
partnerships between the public and private sectors, can provide citizens, businesses and
administrations in the Community with a series of instruments needed for them to enter the
information society.
 ---pagebreak--- 3. Commission's position on the amendments proposed by the European Parliament on
first reading
3.1        Amendments accepted
The Commission accepts amendments 1, 2 (first part), 3, 4, 7 (first part), 10, 11 (with one minor
amendment), 15, 16 (first part), 20, 22 (with one minor amendment), 24, 25, 26, 27 (first part),
28, 31 (first part) and 34.
Amendment 1 clarifies the first recital and calls for particular attention to be paid to SMEs and
the less developed or peripheral regions.
The first part of amendment 2 stresses the importance of the Euro-ISDN which is the network
on which the trans-European applications will be deployed in the immediate future.
Amendment 3 adds a new recital rightly stressing the need for coordination with other initiatives.
This need is also echoed in point 4 of Annex 1.
Amendment 4 improves the original wording to render the same idea.
The first part of amendment 7 puts the accent on real needs not covered by mere market forces;
these correspond to the applications of collective interest for which priority is proposed.
Amendments 10 and 15 bring the text closer to the wording of the Treaty.
Amendment 11 is a useful addition; only the word "technical" to describe the transition towards
the information society must be deleted, as it is overrestrictive.
The first part of amendment 16 is justified as it clarifies the real nature of the work programme
prepared by the Commission at this stage.
Amendment 20 provides a reminder that the guidelines applicable to Euro-ISDN are adopted by
the European Parliament and the Council.
The first part of amendment 22 is acceptable since the text deleted has been moved to
amendment 23. The second part rightly stresses the importance of providing non-proprietary
tools for development of new applications. However, it seems unrealistic to require the generic
services to provide such tools. It is therefore proposed to replace "providing" by "promoting".
Amendment 24 is a useful addition to the point on "distance education and training".
Amendment 25 adds to the point on "transport telematics" the domains which Parliament gave
priority when adopting the provisions on the trans-European transport network.
Amendment 26 draws attention to important social aspects of teleworking.
The first part of amendment 27 (excluding "gradual approximation of conditions and terms of
employment" which appears unrealistic) is a useful addition to the point on "telematic services
for the job market".
Amendment 28 is a useful addition to the point on "cultural and linguistic heritage".
 ---pagebreak---  The first part of amendment 31 rightly extends the media which can be used for generic services
to include emerging fixed or mobile networks.
Amendment 34 is an acceptable simplification.
3.2         Amendments acceptable in principle
Amendments 6, 8, 23 and 35 (second part) are acceptable in principle. The proposal is to adopt
the ideas in more appropriate form.
Amendment 6 stresses (although the wording can be improved) the need for coordination
between Community programmes and that the projects of common interest are projects to
produce applications (which, although well-founded, must not preclude a demonstration or
validation phase before moving on to full deployment of the project to check in a limited, but
representative geographical area that the application actually provides the service expected in
conditions economically acceptable to users). Recital 16 therefore now reads:
'Whereas effective coordination needs to be ensured between the implementation of the trans-
European telecommunications networks, which must address real-world concerns, excluding
experimental projects, and the different Community programmes, particularly the specific
programmes of the fourth framework programme for research, technological development and
demonstration, the programmes in favour of SMEs and with information content oriented
programmes (such as INFO 2000, Media 2) and other information society activities. "
Amendment 8 mentions the need to use, on a synergetic basis, all appropriate forms of aid for
TEN activities, as advocated by the Commission in the fifth paragraph of Annex 1. Since
references are made elsewhere in the text to the Structural Funds, the benefits for the internal
market and strengthening industrial competitiveness and economic and social cohesion, repetition
of these points here only complicates the text. The proposal is therefore to amend recital 19 to
read:
" ... of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks; whereas, nevertheless,
use should also be made, on a synergetic basis and in line with their specific rules, of the
Community financial instruments which can favour implementation of the lines of action in the
sphere of trans-European telecommunications networks, with a view to deriving maximum benefit
from coordination of the different sources of funding; whereas, following the abovementioned
Regulation, the concerned Member State shall give ..."
Amendment 23 includes points deleted by amendments 22 and 29 and applies to all applications.
This idea is acceptable, but the part on local languages must leave open the possibility of access
to non-professional services in a language other than the local language. Also, it is not possible
to assess the social and societal impact of each application (see the comments on amendment
 12, point 2 in section 3.3 below) and this section is therefore too binding. Under the
circumstances, the amendment accepted reads:
"Applications must take account, where necessary, of local linguistic constraints and be
interoperable between themselves to bring the maximum benefit to the users across the
Communiiv. Thev must address the widest possible populations of users and facilitate users'
access to services of collective interest."
 ---pagebreak--- The second part of amendment 35 adds a definition of the "transnational" nature of the projects
which was included, in more appropriate form, in a declaration made by the Commission during
the negotiations within the Council. The proposal is to amend Parliament's proposal as follows:
"... Article 3. These projects must be transnational in the sense that they shall be conceived to
satisfy needs existing in several Member States and to be implemented in several Member
States. This does not prevent the initial phase of their deployment, designed to check 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 this Member State are representative of those
existing in the other Member States where the project should ultimately be implemented. "
3.3          Amendments which cannot be accepted
These are amendments 2 (second part), 5, 7 (second part), 9, 12, 13, 14, 16 (second part), 17,
18, 19, 21, 27 (second part), 29, 30, 31 (second part), 32, 33 and 35 (first part).
The second part of amendment 2 indicating the nature of the project selection criteria is
superfluous since the criteria are specified in Annex 2.
Amendment 5 suggests that broadband networks will not be available until the distant future;
this is incorrect, even though they are still far from generally available.
The second part of amendment 7. amendments 17. 18 and 21 and the final sentence of
amendment 16 amend the committee procedure proposed and deviate from the modus vivendi
between the three institutions. The Commission proposes to keep to this agreement. A new
recital 18a has therefore been added reading:
"Whereas on 20 December 1994 the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission
reached a modus vivendi concerning the implementing measures for acts adopted in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the EC Treaty";
The first part of amendment 9 is contrary to the Community's traditional approach to
interoperability, which recommends voluntary standards with regulation only at a later stage if
the voluntary approach proves to generate interoperability problems at trans-European level. The
final part makes the scope of this recital too general.
Amendment 12 calls for a number of comments:
 1. The setting of an order of priority within the list of priorities is unacceptable in view
of the flexibility which must be maintained in order to adapt to the situation of the sector and
to the rapid development of the communications system when preparing the annual work
programme.
2. The amendments at the start of paragraphs (a) and (c) require systematic assessment of the
social consequences before any deployment of generic services and applications. It should be
noted that the identification criteria (Annex 2) include the direct or indirect socio-economic
effects of each project. It does not seem possible to go beyond this and assess the social and
societal effects of each project (as far as this would make any sense). It is more appropriate to
monitor the more general impact by assessing the effect of a series of applications introduced
over a specified period, whatever the origin. Moreover, the amendment at the end of paragraph
 ---pagebreak---   (c) deals with specific applications, which belong in Annex 1 and not in an article concerning
 the general priorities.
 3. As regards the new paragraph (h), the conditions for cooperation with third countries are set
 out in Article 12. Such cooperation must be considered an advantage for some projects, but not
 a systematic priority.
 As regards amendment 13. the comment made on the second part of amendment 1 applies.
 Amendment 14 mentions improvement of communication in the sphere of public administration.
 However, this is not a general measure but a domain for action, which, logically, belongs in
 Annex 1.
 The addition before the final sentence of amendment 16 calls for the work programme to
 identify specific measures according to social or regional criteria to integrate individuals into all
 domains of the information society. This manifestly imposes an extremely ambitious objective,
 which is not the purpose of the work programme.
Amendment 19 defines the substance of the support and coordination activities which, more
logically, come under point 4 in Annex 1.
The second part of amendment 27 is unrealistic. To harmonize conditions of employment in the
Community, measures other than any effects of the use of trans-European telematics services for
job hunting are needed.
Amendment 29 deleting the point on "Citizens' access to services" is unacceptable; this domain
is of great social importance.
Amendment 30 adds applications already covered by Annex 1, either under point 1 on research
networks or under point 2 on generic services.
The second part of amendment 31 adds unnecessary details.
Amendment 32 duplicates amendment 22 which applies to all generic services.
Amendment 33 adds unnecessary details.
The first part of amendment 35 introduces oversubjective selection criteria (exemplarity and
value as an incentive and a multiplier).
4. Conclusion
The Commission recommends that Parliament and the Council approve the amended proposal
set out in Annex 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                  Amended proposal for a                              Annex 1
               EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
        on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks
     Original proposal                                           Amended proposal
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND                      Unchanged.
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Community, and in particular the
first paragraph of Article 129d thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the
Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the
Economic and Social Committee,
Having regard to the opinion of the
Committee of the Regions,
1. Whereas the implementation and the            1. Whereas the implementation and the
development         of    trans-European         development          of     trans-European
telecommunications networks aim at ensuring      telecommunications networks aim at ensuring
the circulation and the exchange of              the circulation and the exchange of
information across the Union; whereas this is    information across the Union; whereas this is
a pre-condition to make possible the             a pre-condition to enable citizens and
establishment of the "information society",      industry - especially SMEs - in the Union to
which will result from the availability, for     derive full benefit from the potential of
each citizen, company or public authority        telecommunications so as to make possible
everywhere in the Union, of any kind and         the establishment of the "information
quantity of information they need:               society", in which the development of
                                                 applications, services and telecommunications
                                                 networks will be of crucial importance with
                                                 a view to ensuring the availability, for each
                                                 citizen, company or public authority
                                                 everywhere in the Union, including the less
                                                 developed or peripheral regions, of any kind
                                                 and quantity of information they need;
 ---pagebreak---  2. Whereas, in the White Paper on "Growth,      Unchanged.
 Competitiveness and Employment", the
 Commission stressed the importance of
 establishing the information society, which,
 by introducing new forms of economic,
 political and social relations, will help the
 Union to face the new challenges of the next
 century, including the challenge of
 employment creation; whereas this has been
 recognized by the Brussels European Council
 of December 1993;
 3. Whereas the internal market establishes      Unchanged.
 an area without borders, within which the
 free circulation of goods, persons, capital and
 services has to be ensured, and where already
adopted Community measures, and other
measures still to be adopted, imply
significant exchange of information between
individuals,          organizations         and
administrations; whereas efficient means of
exchanging information are vital for the
improvement of industrial competitiveness;
whereas these exchanges of information can
be a s s u r e d     by     trans-European
telecommunications networks; whereas the
availability of trans-European networks will
strengthen social and economic cohesion at
Union level;
4. Whereas the implementation and the            Unchanged,
development           of    trans-European
telecommunications networks should ensure
that information is freely exchanged between
individuals,          organizations         and
administrations, while respecting the privacy
rights of individuals and intellectual and
industrial property rights;
5. Whereas, in June 1994, in their report on     Unchanged.
"Europe and the global information society",
the members of a group of prominent
representatives of industry recommended to
the Council to implement trans-European
telecommunications networks and to secure
their interconnectivity with the whole of
European networks; whereas the June 1994
Corfu European Council gave its general
approval to this recommendation;
6. Whereas the communication of the              Unchanged.
Commission to the Council and the European
 ---pagebreak---  Parliament "Europe's way to the Information
 Society: an Action Plan", follows these
 recommendations; whereas the conclusions of
the Industry-Telecommunications Council
meeting on 28 September 1994 on this action
plan stressed the fact that the rapid
development of efficient           information
infrastructures (networks, services and
applications) on the basis of a global,
coherent and balanced approach is
indispensable to Europe;
7. Whereas Article 129c of the Treaty          Unchanged,
requires that the Community shall establish a
series of guidelines covering the objectives,
priorities and broad lines of measures to be
implemented in the sphere of trans-European
networks; whereas these guidelines shall
identify projects of common interest;
8. Whereas the information society cannot      Unchanged,
develop without the availability of
applications, and especially applications of
collective interest, optimally answering user
needs, taking into account, where appropriate,
the needs of the elderly and disabled;
whereas applications will thus form an
important part of the projects of common
interest;
9. Whereas projects of common interest can,    9. Whereas projects of common interest can,
in many cases, already be implemented in the   in many cases, already be implemented in the
present telecommunications networks, in        present telecommunications          networks,
order to offer trans-European applications;    especially the Euro-ISDN, in order to offer
whereas guidelines have to be drawn up, in     trans-European applications; whereas
order to identify these projects of common     guidelines have to be drawn up, in order to
interest;                                      identify these projects of common interest;
9a.                                            9a. Whereas there must be coordination
                                               between the implementation of the proposals
                                               chosen and similar initiatives adopted at
                                               national or regional level in the Union;
10. Whereas in the selection and               10. Whereas in the selection and
implementation of such projects account        implementation of such projects account
should be taken of both infrastructures        should be taken of all infrastructures offered
offered by telecommunications organizations    by incumbent and new providers;
as well as alternative infrastructures offered
by other provi ders;
 ---pagebreak---   11.      Whereas the Commission has              Unchanged.
 transmitted to the Council a series of
 guidelines concerning the development of
 Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
 as a trans-European network; whereas the
 Council has reached a common position on
 this proposal;
 12. Whereas the present networks, which           Unchanged.
 include existing ISDN, are evolving towards
 advanced networks offering a variable data
 flow rate up to broadband capabilities,
 adaptable to different needs, in particular to
the offer of multimedia services and
 applications; whereas the implementation of
integrated broadband communication (IBC)
networks will be the outcome of this
evolution; whereas IBC will constitute the
optimal platform on which applications of the
Information Society can be built;
 13. Whereas the results of the specific           Unchanged.
research and technological development
programme in the field of communication
technologies (RACE) have prepared the
ground and the technology base for the
introduction of IBC networks in Europe;
14. Whereas the results of the specific            Unchanged.
research and technological development
programme on information technologies
(Esprit) have prepared the ground and the
technological base for the introduction of
applications of information technologies;
15. Whereas the results of the specific            Unchanged.
research and technological development
programmes in the field of telematics
systems of general interest (1991 to 1994)
and telematics applications of common
interest (1994 to 1998) prepare the ground
for the introduction of interoperable
applications of common interest across
Europe;
                                                10
 ---pagebreak---  16. Whereas effective coordination needs to        16. Whereas effective coordination needs to
be ensured between the different Community         be ensured between the implementation of
programmes, and in particular as appropriate,      the trans-European        telecommunications
with programmes in favour of SMEs and              networks, which must address real-world
with information          content oriented         concerns, excluding experimental projects,
programmes (such as INFO 2000. Media 2)            and the different Community programmes,
and other information society activities:          particularly the specific programmes of the
                                                   fourth framework programme for research,
                                                   technological         development         and
                                                   demonstration, the programmes in favour of
                                                   SMEs and with information content oriented
                                                   programmes (such as INFO 2000, Media 2)
                                                   and other information society activities;
 17.    Whereas in its communication on            Unchanged.
"Preparatory actions in the field of Trans-
European Networks-Integrated Broadband
Communications          (TEN-IBC)",         the
Commission identified the need to carry out
preparatory actions with the sector actors to
draw up appropriate guidelines; whereas the
results of these actions form the basis for the
guidelines related to IBC networks in this
Decision;
18. Whereas the telecommunications sector is       18. Whereas the telecommunications sector is
being progressively liberalized; whereas the       being progressively liberalized; whereas the
development of trans-European applications,        development of trans-European applications,
services and networks relies mainly on             services and networks relies mainly on
private initiative; whereas these trans-           private initiative; whereas these trans-
European developments must respond to              European developments must respond on a
market needs; whereas, taking this into            Community scale to market needs or to
account, the interested sector actors will be      actual and sizeable needs of society which
requested to propose, through appropriate          are not covered by mere market forces:
procedures giving them equal chances,              whereas, taking this into account, the
specific projects of common interest in            interested sector actors will be requested to
chosen domains; whereas these procedures           propose, through appropriate procedures
have to be defined and a list of the chosen        giving them equal chances, specific projects
domains has to be adopted; whereas a               of common interest in chosen domains;
Committee shall assist the Commission for          whereas these procedures have to be defined
the identification of the specific projects of     and a list of the chosen domains has to be
common interest;                                   adopted; whereas a Committee shall assist
                                                   the Commission for the identification of the
                                                   specific projects of common interest;
18a.                                                18a. Whereas on 20 December 1994 the
                                                   European Parliament, the Council and the
                                                   Commission reached a modus vivendi
                                                   concerning the implementing measures for
                                                   acts adopted in accordance with the
                                                   procedure laid down in Article 189b of the
                                                   EC Treaty:
                                                11
 ---pagebreak---  19. Whereas the Community financial              19. Whereas the Community financial
support to the implementation of projects of      support to the implementation of projects of
common interest identified within this            common interest identified within this
Decision has to be considered in the              Decision has to be considered in the
framework of the Regulation laying down           framework of the Regulation laying down
general principles for the granting of            general principles for the granting of
Community financial aid in the field of trans-    Community financial aid in the field of trans-
European networks; whereas following this         European networks (Council Regulation (EC)
Regulation, the concerned Member States           No 2236/95 of 18 September 1995): whereas,
shall give a certain degree of support to the     nevertheless, use should also be made, on a
projects of common interest;                      synergetic basis and in line with their
                                                  specific rules, of the Community financial
                                                  instruments which can favour implementation
                                                  of the lines of action in the sphere of trans-
                                                  European telecommunications networks, with
                                                  a view to deriving maximum benefit from
                                                  coordination of the different sources of
                                                  funding:        whereas following          the
                                                  abovementioned Regulation, the concerned
                                                  Member States shall give a certain degree of
                                                  support to the projects of common interest;
20. Whereas the Commission shall undertake        Unchanged.
actions to assure interoperability of the
networks, and to coordinate the activities of
the Member States aiming at the
implementation         of     trans-European
telecommunications networks;
21. Whereas it is important, for the optimum      Unchanged.
development of the Information Society, to
assure an efficient exchange of information
between the Community and the third
countries, in particular the States members of
the European Economic Area; whereas it is
thus necessary to promote networks,
interconnection and interoperability at
European scale;
22. Whereas, however, activities undertaken       Unchanged.
in the context of these guidelines are subject
to the full application of the competition
rules set out in the Treaty and implementing
legislation,
                                               12
 ---pagebreak--- HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
                                             Article 1
This Decision establishes guidelines covering        This Decision establishes guidelines covering
objectives, priorities and broad lines of            objectives, priorities and broad lines of
measures in the field of trans-European              measures in the field of trans-European
telecommunications networks.             These       networks in the area of telecommunications
guidelines set out the domains for projects of       infrastructure. These guidelines set out the
common interest, and a procedure for the             domains for projects of common interest, and
identification of specific projects of common        a procedure for the identification of specific
interest in these domains.                           projects of common interest in these
                                                     domains.
                                             Article 2
The Community will support the                       The Community will support the
interconnection of telecommunications                interconnection of the networks in the area of
networks, in particular integrated broadband         telecommunications infrastructure, the
communication (IBC) networks, the setting-           establishment and the development of
up and the deployment of interoperable               interoperable services and applications as
services and applications and required               well as the access to them, with the general
infrastructure as well as the access to them,        objectives of:
with the general objectives of:
    facilitating the transition towards the             facilitating the transition towards the
    information society, in particular to               information society as well as providing
    promote the satisfaction of social needs            experience on the effects of the
    and to improve the quality of life,                 deployment of new networks and
                                                        applications on social activities and to
                                                        promote the satisfaction of social needs
                                                        and to improve the quality of life.
    improving competitiveness of European               improving competitiveness of European
    industry and strengthening the internal             industry and strengthening the internal
    market,                                             market,
    strengthening    economic      and   social         strengthening    economic     and    social
    cohesion,                                           cohesion,
    accelerating the development of new                 accelerating the development of new
    growth area activities leading to job               growth area activities leading to job
    creation.                                           creation.
                                             Article 3
The priorities for the realization of the            Unchanged.
objectives mentioned in Article 2 will be:
                                                 13
 ---pagebreak---  The confirmation of the feasibility,
 followed by the deployment of
 applications supporting the development
 of a Community Information Society, in
 particular applications of collective
 interest.
 The confirmation of the feasibility,
 followed by the deployment of
 applications contributing to economic and
 social cohesion, by improving access to
 information across the whole Union
 building on the Community's cultural
 diversity.
Actions aiming at the stimulation of
interregional initiatives, associating less
favoured regions for the launch of
Community telecom           services and
applications.
The confirmation of the feasibility,
followed by the deployment of
applications and services contributing to
the strengthening of the internal market
and job creation, in particular those
offering to SMEs means to improve their
competitiveness in the European Union
and at world level.
The identification, the confirmation of the
feasibility, followed by the deployment of
trans-European generic servi ces providing
a seamless access to all kinds of
information, including in rural and
peripheral areas, and interoperable with
equivalent services at world level.
The confirmation of the feasibility of new
high-bandwidth fibre optic backbone
networks, where required for such
applications and services, and the
promotion of such networks.
The identification and removal of gaps
and missing links for an effective
interconnection and interoperability in all
their components of telecommunications
networks in the Community and at world
level, with a particular emphasis on IBC
networks.
                                            14
 ---pagebreak---                                               Article 4
The broad lines of measures to be                     Unchanged,
implemented for reaching the objectives
defined in Article 2 will cover:
    Identification of projects of common
    interest.
    Actions aiming at increasing the
    awareness of citizens, economic actors
    and administrations on the benefits they
    can draw from the new advanced trans-
    European telecommunications services
    and applications.
-   Actions aiming at the stimulation of
    combined initiatives from the users and
    the providers for the launch of projects in
    the     field    of     trans-European
    telecommunications         networks,     in
    particular IBC networks.
    Support, in the framework of the means
    defined by the Treaty, to the confirmation
    of the feasibility, followed by the
    deployment of applications, in particular
    applications of collective interest, and
    encouragement for the establishment of
    public-private partnerships.
    Stimulation of the offer and the use of
    services and applications for SMEs and
    professional users, which constitute a
    source of employment and growth.
   Promotion of the interconnectivity of
    networks, of the interoperability of
   broadband services and applications and
    of the infrastructure they require, in
    particular for multimedia, and of the
    interoperability between existing and
    broadband services and applications.
                                                 15
 ---pagebreak---                                              Article 5
 The development of trans-European                    The development of trans-European networks
 telecommunications networks is made under            in the area of telecommunications
 this Decision by the implementation of               infrastructure is made under this Decision by
 projects of common interest. The domains             the implementation of projects of common
 within which projects of common interest             interest. The domains within which projects
 shall be identified are listed in Annex 1.           of common interest shall be identified are
                                                      listed in Annex 1.
                                             Article 6
The following Articles 7 to 9 describe the           Unchanged.
procedure for identifying specific projects of
common interest in the domains indicated in
Annex 1, using the identification criteria
listed in Annex 2. The identified projects are
eligible for Community support in
compliance with the Council Regulation
laying down general rules for the granting of
Community financial aid in the field of trans-
European networks.
                                             Article 7
1. A work programme shall be drawn up by              1.       A draft work programme shall be
the Commission, in conformity with the other         prepared by the Commission, in conformity
trans-European network policies, in                  with the other trans-European network
consultation with sector actors, for selecting       policies, in consultation with sector actors,
the areas in which specific projects of              for selecting the areas in which specific
common interest can be proposed, within the          projects of common interest can be proposed,
domains of projects of common interest set           within the domains of projects of common
out in Annex 1. The work programme shall             interest set out in Annex 1. The work
be updated as necessary.                             programme shall be updated as necessary.
2. The work programme shall be the basis             Unchanged.
for the establishment of calls for proposals
for projects of common interest by the
Commission.
                                             Article 8
1. The Commission shall be responsible for           Unchanged.
the implementation of the procedure defined
in Articles 7 to 9.
2. For the cases specified in Article 9(1),
the Commission shall be assisted by a
committee composed of representatives of the
Member States and chaired by the
representative of the Commission.
                                                 16
 ---pagebreak--- The Commission representative shall submit
to the committee a draft of the measures to
be taken. The committee shall deliver its
opinion on the draft within a time limit
which the chairman may lay down according
to the urgency of the matter. The opinion
shall be delivered by the majority provided
for in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case
of decisions which the Council is required to
adopt on a proposal from the Commission.
The votes of the Member States'
representatives within the committee shall be
weighted in the manner set out in that
Article. The Chairman shall not vote.
The Commission shall adopt the measures
envisaged where they are in accordance with
the opinion of the Committee.
If the measures envisaged are not in
accordance with the Committee's opinion, or
if no opinion is delivered, the Commission
shall without delay submit to the Council a
proposal relating to the measures to be taken.
The Council shall act by qualified majority.
If on expiry of a period of one month from
referral of the matter to the Council, the
latter has not acted, the proposed measure
shall be adopted by the Commission.
                                                Article 9
1. The procedure laid down in Article 8 shall           Unchanged,
apply to:
     the preparation and updating of the work
     programme referred to in Article 7,
     the identification of projects of common
     interest as a result of a call for proposals,
-    the definition of complementary support
     and coordination actions,
-    the measures to be taken to evaluate the
     implementation of the work programme.
2. For the particular case of the domain of             2.      For the particular case of the domain
projects of common interest related to ISDN             of projects of common interest related to
                                                    17
 ---pagebreak---  (referenced in Annex 1, point 3, paragraph           Euro-ISDN (referenced in Annex 1, point 3,
 1), the applicable guidelines are those              paragraph 1), the applicable guidelines are
 adopted by the Council.                              those adopted by the European Parliament
                                                      and the Council.
3. The Commission shall inform the                    Unchanged,
committee, at each of its meetings, of the
progress of the work programme
implementation.
                                              Article 10
Member States shall take all measures                 Unchanged.
required at national, regional or local level to
facilitate and accelerate the implementation
of the projects of common interest, in the
respect of Community rules.                 The
authorization procedures which may be
necessary shall be achieved in the shortest
delays.
                                             Article 11
This Decision shall not prejudice any                 Unchanged,
financial commitment by a Member State or
the Community.
                                             Article 12
The participation of third countries, in              Unchanged.
particular those being parties to the
Agreement on the European Economic Area,
or having concluded an Association
Agreement with the Community, can be
authorized by the Council on a case-by-case
basis, following the procedure laid down in
Article 228 of the Treaty, in order to allow
their contribution to the implementation of
projects of common interest, and to promote
the interconnection and the interoperability of
the telecommunications networks.
 ---pagebreak---                                            Article 13
The Commission shall present every two             Unchanged,
years a report on the implementation of this
Decision to the European Parliament, the
Council, the Economic and Social Committee
and the Committee of the Regions.
The report shall contain an evaluation of the
results achieved with Community support in
different project fields, in relation to the
overall objectives.
                                           Article 14
This Decision shall enter into force on the        Unchanged,
seventh day following its publication in the
Official    Journal of the European
Communities.
                                           Article 15
This Decision is addressed to the Member           Unchanged.
States.
Done at Brussels,
For the European Parliament              For the Council
The President                            The President
                                                19
 ---pagebreak---              ANNEX 1: DOMAINS FOR PROJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST
 The trans-European telecommunications            Unchanged.
 networks will open the European market to
 the new applications and services which are
 the ground upon which the information
 society should develop. They are essential to
 realize the objectives of safeguarding and
 promoting Europe's future prosperity and
 creating new jobs, as well as enhancing
 economic and social cohesion.
A three-layer model has generally been            Unchanged.
accepted as the most appropriate framework
for      describing          trans-European
telecommunications networks. These layers
are:
     The applications layer, through which          The applications layer, through which
     users interact with generic services and       users interact with generic services and
     basic networks for meeting their               basic networks for meeting their
     professional, educational and social           professional, educational and social needs.
     needs.     Applications require to be
     interoperable between themselves to bring
     the maximum benefit to the users across
     the Community.
     The generic services layer, made of            The generic services layer, made of
     compatible generic services and their          compatible generic services and their
     management. Through support of the             management. Through support of the
     applications common requirements, these        applications common requirements and by
     services complement the applications           promoting common non-proprietary tools
    whilst aiding their interoperability.          for development and implementation of
                                                   new applications. these            services
                                                   complement the applications whilst aiding
                                                   their interoperability.
    The basic networks layer, that provides       Unchanged.
    the physical access, transport and
     switching elements of the networks,
    including their management and
     signalling. These elements are providing
    the t r a n s - E u r o p e a n network
     interconnectivity.
These three layers form a consistent              Unchanged.
structure, where applications are supported by
the two lower layers: generic services and
basic networks. In particular, applications
cannot be offered in the absence of one of
the other two layers; however, each layer
should be sufficiently open as to support any
                                               20
 ---pagebreak---  element of the layer immediately above. In
this context, projects of common interest
should be identified on the basis of their
operational capability to support the
objectives set forth in this Decision.
This Decision aims at identifying a list of      Unchanged.
projects of common interest, from which
projects which will benefit from the
Community financial support under
Article 129c(l), third indent, of the EC
Treaty, will be selected. This selection is
made within the framework of the
"Regulation laying down general
principles for the granting of Community
financial aid in the field of trans-European
networks".
The recourse to the other sources of             Unchanged.
Community financing remains open, within
the financing rules governing each instrument
for all the projects of common interest
identified. Community financial support is
granted in accordance with competition
policy rules, notably those dealing with the
financial support of R&D and State aids.
The following sections define the domains in     Unchanged.
which projects of common interest will be
identified.
1. Applications                                  1.       Applications
The domains in which applications projects       Applications must take account, where
will be identified are the following:            necessary, of local linguistic constraints and
                                                 be interoperable between themselves to bring
                                                 the maximum benefit to the users across the
                                                 Community. They must address the widest
                                                 possible populations of users and facilitate
                                                 users' access to services of collective interest.
                                                 The domains in which applications projects
                                                 will be identified are the following:
A network for universities and research          Unchanged.
centres:      An advanced trans-European
network, carrying multimedia applications,
should be established, linking universities
and research centres across Europe, with
open access to their libraries.
                                              21
 ---pagebreak---  Distance education and training. Advanced        Distance education and training: Advanced
 distance education and training services         distance education and training services
 should be made accessible for all citizens,      should be made accessible for all citizens,
 schools, colleges and businesses. Centres        schools, colleges and businesses. Centres
 should be set up and made remotely               should be set up and made remotely
 accessible across Europe in order to provide     accessible across Europe in order to provide
courseware and training services for SMEs,       courseware and training services for SMEs,
large companies, education systems, and          large companies, education systems, and
public administrations. New approaches to        public administrations. New approaches to
professional training for the information        general, academic, professional and linguistic
society should be developed and promoted.        training should be developed and promoted
                                                 as part of the transition towards the
                                                 information society.
Health telematics: Trans-European networks       Unchanged.
and applications based on common standards
should be deployed, which would link on a
European scale all the partners of the health
system, in particular general practitioners,
hospitals and social centres.
Transport telematics: Full advantage should      Transport telematics: Full advantage should
be t a k e n       of    trans-European          be t a k e n      of    trans-European
telecommunications networks to improve           telecommunications networks to improve
transport network management and logistical      transport network management and logistical
support for transport industries and the         support for transport industries and the
development of value-added services.             development of value-added services.
Telematic systems and services, wherever         Integrated multimodal transport, non-
applicable, should also serve as a tool for      motorized personal transport, public transport
implementing common transport policy; the        and environment-friendly modes shall be
necessary      complementarity     with   and    treated as a priority. Telematic systems and
interoperability of the trans-European           services, wherever applicable, should also
transport network will be ensured.               serve as a tool for implementing Common
                                                 Transport Policy; the             necessary
                                                 complementarity with and interoperability of
                                                 the trans-European Transport Network will
                                                 be ensured.
Telematics          for     environment:         Unchanged.
Trans-European networks can bring an
important contribution to the monitoring and
the management of the environment,
including emergency management.
Teleworking: The development of                  Teleworking. The development of
teleworking (in homes and satellite offices)     teleworking in satellite offices           and
supported by advanced communication              conceivably in homes supported by advanced
systems will help provide new forms of           communication systems will help provide
flexibility in terms of the place of work and    new forms of flexibility in terms of the place
the way work is organized. Through the           of work and the way work is organized.
decentralization of professional activities,     Through the decentralization of professional
teleworking can also help reduce the             activities, teleworking can also help reduce
                                              22
 ---pagebreak--- environmental      consequences of      daily    the environmental consequences of daily
commuting to population centres.                 commuting to population               centres.
                                                 Applications should be set up to allow for
                                                 such developments while ensuring the
                                                 preservation of workers' rights and preventing
                                                 the risks of social isolation that could be
                                                 involved with teleworking. Special attention
                                                 should be paid to the evaluation of the social
                                                 consequences of these applications.
Telematic services for SMEs: Projects of         Unchanged.
common interest will support the use of
trans-European         telecommunications
applications and services by European SMEs,
with links to public authorities, trade
associations, consumers, customers and
suppliers and including information services
and electronic commerce. The awareness of
telematics-based solutions in general should
be raised among SMEs.
Trans-European Network for Public                Unchanged.
Administration: Interconnected networks
between public administration networks in
Europe should be established, aiming at
facilitating interchange of data between
administrations, in particular when
implementing European Union regulations
providing an effective and less expensive
information interchange. This interconnected
network should be further extended to link
public administrations and European citizens.
Electronic tendering: A trans-European           Unchanged.
Electronic Tendering Network should be set
up, based on electronic procedures for public
procurement between public administrations
and suppliers in Europe.
City information highways: Networks and          Unchanged.
services should be promoted interconnecting
households, businesses, social organizations
and administrations and providing access to
on-line multimedia information, education,
cultural, entertainment and tourism services
on a local, regional, national and European
basis. Links between city and regional
networks should be promoted.
                                              23
 ---pagebreak--- Library services: Trans-European advanced         Unchanged.
networked library services involving all types
of libraries (national, university/research,
public, etc.) should be deployed to provide
effective access to both the reservoir of
organized knowledge and the cultural wealth
held in libraries across Europe, in support of
the economic, social, educational and cultural
life of the EU
Telematic services for the job market:            Telematic services for the job market:
Networked services, such as job information       Networked services, such as job information
databases, should be developed to support the     databases, should be developed to support the
changing labour market in Europe and to           changing labour market in the Community,
help tackle unemployment.                         publicize EU-wide job opportunities and
                                                  encourage workforce mobility.
Cultural and linguistic heritage: Initiatives     Cultural and linguistic heritage: Initiatives
should be launched to foster the preservation     should be launched to foster the preservation
of and access to the European cultural            of and access to the European cultural
heritage, and to demonstrate the potential of     heritage (including support for museum and
the information infrastructure to support the     cultural site multi-media networks) and
development of local content in local             creation, and to demonstrate the potential of
languages.                                        the information infrastructure to stimulate
                                                  and enhance creative endeavours and
                                                  achievements as well as to encourage 1 ocal
                                                  content and its dissemination.
Citizens' access to services: Applications        Unchanged.
demonstrating 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.
2. Generic services
The domains in which projects of common
interest for generic services networks will be
identified are the following:
                                               24
 ---pagebreak---  Implementation of operational trans-              Implementation of operational trans-
 European generic services: They should            European generic services: They should
 include in particular electronic mail, file       include in particular electronic mail, file
 transfer systems, on-line access to electronic    transfer systems, on-line access to electronic
 data bases, and video services. As there is       data bases, and video services. As there is
 an urgent need for these trans-European           an urgent need for these trans-European
 generic services, they will use existing          generic services, they will use existing or
 switched basic networks and user access.          emerging networks, fixed or mobile, and user
 They should include service elements              access. They should include sen/ice elements
 operating at European scale, European             operating at European scale, European
 directories, exchange rate compensation,          directories, exchange rate compensation,
 authentication,     data protection and           authentication, data protection           and
information security, trans-European "kiosk"       information security, trans-European "kiosk"
 and network navigational aids, etc.               and network navigational aids, etc.
 Progressive extension of the generic              Unchanged.
services toward 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 automatic translation,
speech recognition, graphical user interfaces.
Introduction of non-proprietary digital            Unchanged.
signature as a basis for open service
provision and mobility of use: Generic
services will rely on a large number of
complementary and competing services
providers.     Open service provision and
mobility of use will be of key importance
and require electronic names (digital
signatures) to be generally available and
supported.
3. Basic networks                                  Unchanged.
The domains in which projects of common
interest for basic networks will be identified
are the following:
Euro-Integrated Services Digital Networks:         Unchanged.
For reasons of immediate commercial and
technical transEuropean availability, ISDN is
today the most appropriate and efficient
digital switched basic network that can
support new services and applications. Its
                                                25
 ---pagebreak---  present development makes it an opportunity
 for Europe, and its market and geographical
 extension will be justified by the
 implementation of these new services and
 applications     at pan-European          scale.
 However, it should be borne in mind that
 ISDN is only a first step, and that it is going
 to evolve toward becoming merely a user
 access to broadband basic services.
 Commercial introduction of managed                  Unchanged.
 Asynchronous Transport Mode (ATM) and
 other broadband networks: This domain
 must be considered as being of utmost
 common European interest.
Interoperation of existing and broadband             Unchanged.
communication networks:                Existing
networks (for fixed, mobile and satellite
services) should be interconnected and
interoperate between themselves and with
ATM-based high speed networks, in order to
offer the most appropriate economic solutions
to the various situations which will occur
during the setting up of the information
society. This issue is at the core of the
development of the Integrated Broadband
Communications network, and is particularly
relevant for SMEs, as well as for the
professional and residential markets.
4. Support and coordination actions                  Unchanged.
In addition to its support to projects of
common interest, the Community should
initiate actions aiming at providing the
appropriate environment.          They will
contribute to consensus development and
concertation of national and regional
activities for stimulation and promotion of
new applications and services in conformity
with the implementation of programmes in
other areas, as well as the development of
broadband basic networks. They will involve
concertation with European standardization
and strategic planning bodies, coordination
with actions funded by the different
Community financial instruments.            This
includes:
                                                  26
 ---pagebreak---  Development of target specifications, and        Unchanged.
transition towards these targets. These
 specifications will support sector actors to
make sound economic investment decisions.
This will be done in consultation with all
sector actors, including telecommunication
operators,     cable operators,      emerging
operators,      service providers, trade
associations and consumer associations for:
    identifying the missing elements and the      Unchanged.
    bottlenecks in the trans-European
    telecommunications networks,
    developing the target            networks     Unchanged.
    specifications for the three identified
    network layers. This includes terrestrial,
    satellite, mobile, as well as management
    and operation on a European scale.
    Sector actors will build on the RACE and
    Telematics Programme             common
    functional specifications, the Eurescom
    work and other technical bodies set up by
    sector actors, and the results of
    broadband trials underway as well as the
    results of the Esprit and IT programmes,
    developing the network towards the target     Unchanged,
    networks, and
    encouraging the development of open,          Unchanged,
    interoperable and user friendly systems.
Definition of means to access broadband           Definition of means to access IBC
networks, at the three specified layers.          networks.
Establishment of common specifications,           Unchanged.
based on European and world standards.
Furthering the cooperation among sector           Unchanged.
actors, in particular the emerging and
fragmented operators, such as cable
television networks, as well as with users.
Cooperation and coordination with                 Unchanged.
Community, European and national
programmes.
                                               27
 ---pagebreak---                                                Annex 2
                                        Identification criteria
The identification of projects of common              The identification of projects of common
interest among the projects presented by              interest among the projects presented by
interested sector actors in response to a call        interested sector actors in response to a call
for proposals as mentioned in Article 7 is            for proposal as mentioned in Article 7 is
made on the basis of their compliance with            made on the basis of their compliance with
the objectives and priorities laid down in            the objectives and priorities laid down in
Articles 2 and 3 respectively. These projects         Articles 2 and 3 respectively. These projects
shall be transnational with special emphasis          must be transnational in the sense that they
on projects of an interregional nature.               shall be conceived to satisfy needs existing in
                                                      several Member States and to be
                                                      implemented in several Member States. This
                                                      does not prevent the initial phase of their
                                                      deployment, designed to check 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
                                                      this Member State are representative of those
                                                      existing in the other Member States where
                                                      the project should ultimately be implemented.
In addition, the economic and financial               Unchanged.
criteria spelt out in the "Regulation laying
down the general rules for the granting of
Community financial aid in the field of trans-
European networks" shall be taken into
account. These criteria, which will be used
in the framework of this Regulation to decide
on the granting of a financial support to a
specific project, are
-    the potential economic viability of the          Unchanged.
     project, which should be assured,
-    the maturity of the project,                     Unchanged.
-    the stimulative effect of Community              Unchanged.
     intervention on public and private
     financing,
-    the effectiveness of the financial package,      Unchanged.
     the direct or indirect socio-economic            Unchanged.
     effects, in particular on employment,
                                                   28
 ---pagebreak--- the consequences for the environment,          Unchanged.
specially for transborder projects,            Unchanged,
coordination of the timing of the different
parts of a project.
                                            29
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                    ISSN 0254-1475
                                                             COM(96) 108 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                            15
                                     Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-116-EN-C
                                                              ISBN 92-78-01644-6
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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