§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Telecommunications Council on 6 March. [20990]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorI represented the UK at the Telecommunications Council held in Brussels on 6 March.
The Council adopted a directive on licensing in telecommunications. Greece and Germany voted against. Additionally, a decision for EU action on the introduction of satellite personal communication services was adopted without discussion.
There was political agreement to adopting shortly of a common position on a directive concerning the application of open network provision to voice telephony in a competitive environment.
Additionally, the presidency gave a progress report on co-decision procedures under way with the European Parliament and the European Commission made presentations on: a forthcoming Commission communication on universal mobile telecommunications systems; a Commission action plan in the field of satellite communications and on implementation by member states of Community legislation in the telecommunications sector.
I again raised the problem of the century date change for computer systems, having written to Commissioner Bangemann suggesting that the Commission draw European industry's attention to the problem and consider non-legislative means of avoiding disruption within the single market by failure of companies to act quickly.