[Discussioni] European Parliament Approves EU Telecoms Reform but Adds 1 Amendment: Commission Reaction

[Marco Ciurcina]

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/219&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Parliament Approves EU Telecoms Reform but Adds 1 Amendment: 
Commission Reaction

Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner, commented on today's vote as 
follows: "I welcome the European Parliament's strong endorsement of the 
reform of the EU telecoms rules. All three reports on the reform have been 
voted today by the Parliament with overwhelming majorities: 565 votes in 
favour of the establishment of the new European Telecoms Body BEREC, 493 
votes in favour of the new Directives on e-Privacy and Universal Service and 
605 votes in favour of a modern set of rules for ensuring efficient 
management of radio spectrum and helping to remove regulatory obstacles and 
inconsistencies in the single telecoms market. The Parliament also voted with 
578 votes for the reform of the GSM Directive, which would allow industry 
savings of up to €1.6 billion.

Now the ball is in the court of the Council of Telecoms Ministers to decide 
whether or not to accept this package of reforms. There was one amendment 
voted by the Parliament today that was not included in the initial deal 
agreed between the three EU institutions. This amendment is an important 
restatement of the fundamental rights of EU citizens. For many, it is of very 
high symbolic and political value. I call on the Council of Ministers to 
assess the situation very carefully, also in the light of the importance of 
the telecoms reform for the sector and for the recovery of our European 
economy. The Telecoms Council on 12 June should be used for a political 
discussion on whether agreement on the package is still possible or whether 
the discussion will have to start again with the new European Parliament in 
autumn.

I will work closely with the Czech Presidency to help ensuring that an 
agreement on this important reform can still be found in the next weeks."
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