Compromise on reform of EU e-communications rules is possible onl...

government took over the EU Presidency Jan. 1 and said Tuesday it will try to reach agreement on the legislative package during its six-month term (CD Jan 7 p6). There are many technical and several political areas of disagreement between the Council of Ministers and EU lawmakers, key among them the shape of the proposed new entity for the telecommunications market, the need for greater harmonization of Europe’s spectrum management policy, and whether national rules should be more centralized in order to achieve a single market, the spokesman told us. Although talks are just beginning, he said, “we feel that there is a strong will to adopt the package before the end of this European Parliament and Commission’s functional period.” The Czech government found the original EC proposal “quite ambitious” and not reflective enough of the specifics of national markets, he said. It worked with the French Presidency to secure compromise language among the 27 countries and is glad ministers adopted the text, he said. The Council version “preserves the main ideas of the reform package” to foster more investment in infrastructure, protect users’ rights and refrain from imposing unnecessary administrative burdens, he said.