The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)
I represented the UK at the Telecoms Council in Brussels on 13 December 2011. The meeting was chaired by the Polish presidency.
There were four substantive agenda items:
1. Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the first Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP): Adoption of Council’s position at first reading. (EM 13872/10)
This item was for member states to agree to a Council position to enable a First Reading deal to be reached with the European Parliament on the Commission’s proposed RSPP (EM 13872/10). The Council adopted this position without substantive comment.
2. Proposal for Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on roaming on public mobile networks within the community—Progress Report and Exchange of views (EM 12639/11 and EM 12666/11)
This item was an exchange of views based around three questions on the above proposal as detailed in my pre-Council statement and was the only item that resulted in a round-table debate. I intervened as indicated in my pre-Council statement.
The main points of the discussion were:
Most member states agreed that the aim should be to adopt the new regulation before the expiration of the current regulation to avoid any gaps in consumer protection;
Most member states would prefer a technology-neutral regulation that does not contain the technical details of the structural solutions to be adopted. Thus, any technical detail would be contained in BEREC guidance and subject to consultation with key stakeholders;
Many member states were in favour of promoting the European approach to mobile roaming regulation within worldwide forums such as the ITU. However, the UK and others noted that Europe should strive to lead by example, rather than impose its approach on the world; and
A number of member states stressed the importance of ensuring the establishment of effective competition within the EU roaming market before price caps are lifted.
3. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA—Progress Report (EM 14358/10)
This item was a progress report from the presidency (EM 14358/10). I did not intervene on this item and there were no substantive interventions from other member states.
The Commission stated that it will publish a comprehensive internet security plan during 2012, the aim of which will be to: ensure that IT-related products and services are designed to survive cyber-attacks; and ensure that member states computer emergency response teams can exchange information more freely, thus allowing them to co-operate more effectively.
4. Lunchtime discussion on the future of universal service in telecommunications, with regard to the communication of the European Commission presented in the end of November (EM 17466/11)
The Council broke after the ENISA item for lunch. During the lunch, there was a debate on the issue of whether broadband should be added to the universal service directive, with debate framed by the three questions posed by the presidency as detailed in my pre-Council statement. This debate was prompted by the publication of the Communication from the Commission on the results of the public consultation on the role of the universal service obligation in electronic communications. (EM 17466/11)
I intervened along the lines set out in my pre-Council statement. Member states generally welcomed the decision by the Commission to leave to them when to decide to introduce a universal service obligation that would include broadband.
5. Communication from the Commission on Net Neutrality —Adoption of Council conclusions (EM 9350/11).
After lunch, the Council then considered the adoption of the Council conclusions that cover the recent communication entitled “The open internet and net neutrality in Europe”. (EM 9350/11). The conclusions were adopted without any substantive comment. However, I did intervene to highlight the self-regulatory initiative that UK stakeholders were engaged in.
This concluded the formal substantive business items for Council. However, there were eight items that were taken under Any Other Business. They were:
a) Digital agenda for Europe—information from the Commission (EM 9981/10).
b) Ministerial conference on perspectives for the development of the electronic communications market in the EU (Warszawa 19-20 October 2011)—information from the presidency.
c) Sixth ministerial conference e-govemment (Poznan 17-18 November)—information from the presidency.
d) Communication from the Commission on the results of the public consultation on the role of the universal service obligation in electronic communications (EM 17466/11).
e) Open data—an engine for innovation, growth and transparent governance—presentation by the Commission.
f) Connecting Europe facility—proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on guidelines for trans-European networks and repealing Decision No. 1336/97/EC (EM 17176/11 and EM 16006/11)—presentation by the Commission.
g) State of play on implementation of the electronics communication framework—information from the Commission.
h) Work programme of the incoming presidency—information by the Danish delegation.
My only intervention under AOB was on item a. I intervened as per my pre-Council statement by stating that the Commission should bring forward actions that lead to the creation of a true pan-European digital single market. Other member states including Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden also highlighted the importance of this issue during similar interventions.