Mr. Martin Selmayr, the spokesman for the EC DG Information Society and Media presented compromise text which reconciles different positions of the EP and the Council. Main points of the text are:

• Each Member State (MS) has to create an independent national Telecoms regulator
• The European Telecoms Authority proposed by the EC will be substantially smaller in size and competences than initially envisaged. Following the wishes expressed by EP and Council, it will be a lean and efficient office that will focus on telecoms regulation and have no competences with regard to spectrum or network security. Taking into account the recent position adopted by the European Regulators Group (ERG), independent national regulators will form the heart of the new office, which will be called "Body of the European Telecoms Regulators" and which will appoint not more than 20 experts.
• Consumers should have the right to change fixed or mobile operator within 1 working day while keeping their number
• Telecom operators need to notify regulators and the public about security breaches. The Commission reaffirms that notifications must, as a matter of principle, be sent to the individuals affected by them and that the notification procedure must remain swift, simple and effective. In order to clarify, in an objective manner, the cases where such notifications will be required.
• With regard to radio spectrum policy, the strategic coordination of radio spectrum policy will be strengthened at political level through a process whereby the EC submits a multi-annual EU radio spectrum policy programme to be jointly adopted by the EP and the Council. The promotion of cultural and media policy objectives has also been strengthened in line with the EP amendments, even though the EC has made sure in its modified proposal that this does not unduly restrict the increased flexibility in the use of spectrum and does not call into question the promotion of wireless broadband in rural and other non-metropolitan areas in line with the EC's "broadband for all" policy. The EC's role in coordinating conditions and procedures relating to rights to use spectrum is now clearly focused on "pan-European services" as proposed by the EP. The creation of a new advisory body for radio spectrum policy, as suggested by the EP, has however not been retained by the EC, in order to avoid duplication of work with the existing Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG).

During the daily EC press briefing one of the journalists asked about the unusual procedure, namely that the EC proposed a compromise text.

Mr. Selmayr answered that the procedure is not unusual, since it is included in the Article 250 of the Treaty. It has already been used for example in case of the Television without Frontiers Directive. Moreover, the EC has a right to change its proposal, because it is a body which has a right to change legislative proposals. He also added that the new text was discussed with the EP and even more with the French Presidency.

The follow up question from a journalist concerned the character of the text – if it is a new proposal, or a set of amendments to the EP’s decision on the Telecom Package.

Mr. Selmayr said that legally it is a new proposal, however politically it is a text which includes proposals from the EP and the Council.

Next steps:
- Meeting of the Council of Telecoms Ministers:  November 27th, 2008.
- The vote in second reading in the EP: April 2009.

To see the details on the new compromise texts on the Telecom Package please click here.
To access the reworked proposals, please click here