MEPs’ new line brings progress for directive

Date: 27/02/1997

EUROPEAN policy-makers are moving with unusual speed to unlock disputes over three crucial telecommunications directives.

The proposed laws, without which the EU's planned opening up of the market for voice-telephony from January next year cannot go ahead, had looked set for months of institutional wrangling.

Instead, when they meet next Thursday (6 March), communications ministers may be able to adopt legislation establishing a common framework for general authorisations and individual licences granted by member states for the provision of telecoms services.

While differences remain, a deal now appears possible. A month ago, this would have seemed a pipedream. Then, the Council of Ministers was locked in 'conciliation' talks with the European Parliament over a law guaranteeing new operators rights to hook up to the existing network - the so-called 'interconnection' directive.

This threatened to undermine the passage of two further directives on open network provision (ONP) and licencing and, in turn, menaced the start date for full-scale liberalisation ten months from now.

“The problems are not over yet, but the situation looks a lot rosier,” said one diplomat this week. “Parliament has actually been quite helpful on this.”

In fact, in an uncharacteristic move, Parliament is pushing for a more liberal directive than that on offer. At their plenary session last week, MEPs voted for a series of amendments proposed by Dutch Christian Democrat Wim van Velzen. These included a measure to ensure operators offering to provide internal communications services to business need not apply for individual licences, and another making it easier to provide new services before applying for a licence.

Following the adoption of these amendments by the European Commission, the licencing directive has been added to the agenda of the meeting of telecoms ministers at the last minute.

Although talks between the Parliament and Council continue on the interconnection directive, both sides report that serious progress is being made.

The most problematic measure will be the ONP directive, which harmonises the conditions of access to and use of public telecoms networks and services.

MEPs disagreed last week over whether to include mobile telephony within the provisions covering universal service.

This was blocked by an alliance of Conservatives and Liberals but, once it gets back to ministers, the French and Belgians may try to revive the battle and oblige mobile operators to bear some of the cost of universal service obligations.