§ Mr. Mike HallTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Telecommunications Council on 26 February. [33471]
§ Mrs. RocheI chaired the Telecommunications Council in Brussels on 26 February.
There was unanimous political agreement to the adoption shortly of a common position on a directive on telecommunications terminal equipment. There was also a televised debate on a Commission Green Paper on convergence in the broadcasting, telecommunications and information technology sectors.
Following a European Commission presentation, the Council adopted conclusions on a Commission Communication on Internet domain name governance. The Commission gave an oral presentation of a draft decision on the further development of mobile and wireless communications in Europe (universal mobile telecommunications system). The Commission also made oral presentations of Communications on: implementation by Member States of Community legislation in the telecommunication sector; globalisation and the Information Society; universal service in telecommunications; and the century date change problem for computer systems. I informed the Council that the UK would be hosting an EU conference to tackle the Millennium Bug.