26 February Telecoms Council

Date: 05/03/1998

TELECOMS ministers delivered a unified message of opposition to Us plans unveiled last month on governing the Internet.

UK Minister Barbara Roche said the EU would quickly draw up a response to the Washington policy paper which appeared to favour a US-led approach to issues such as allocation and oversight of 'domain names' including '.com' and '.org' which form a key part of Internet addresses. Roche said the EU was concerned that Internet governance should take into account the rapid globalisation of the network, even though it began its life in the US. The minister added that the Union would “work with the Americans on the issue” in a bid to find a common approach.

MINISTERS discussed Telecoms Commissioner Martin Bangemann's latest plans for a 'global charter' to improve the coherence of international decision-making on agreements covering the information society. Bangemann formally unveiled his plans last month, in a bid to increase cooperation between disparate bodies such as the International Telecommunications Union, the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the International Standardisation Organisation.

Roche said the issue would be revisited at a conference of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the information society, in Ottawa in October. The EU expects to organise its own conference on the issue next year, she added.

A DIRECTIVE on connected telecommunications equipment, which will cut down the red tape firms need to go through before they can put a product on sale, was approved by ministers. The directive allows companies to test their own equipment, such as fax machines and telephones, and declare that it meets EU safety standards, without the need to consult independent testing organisations. Radio equipment is also included in the scope of the directive, although it will be subject to slightly tougher safety requirements than conventional telecoms equipment.

A EUROPEAN Commission Green Paper on the convergence of the telecoms and media sectors, and ongoing fears over the EU's lack of preparation for the Millennium Bug which threatens to wreak havoc with computer systems unable to recognise the year 2000, were also briefly debated by ministers.