The Austrian Federal Government took up on 1 January the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) for the first half of 2006, following the United Kingdom’s presidency.
Among the main issues identified by the Austrian presidency for Europe’s future are the so called Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013 - already adopted by the 25 Member States but which should also gather the consensus of the European Parliament and the European Commission - and the debate on the future of Europe, in the sense of finding a way for the European Constitutional Treaty. The measures aimed at promoting growth and employment, investigation and technological development, as well as security and judicial cooperation issues, are also part of the Austrian agenda for the presidency of the Council.
The work programme of the Council in 2006 was jointly made by the two countries with the presidency of the Council this year - Austria and Finland. The latter’s term of office will be on the second half of 2006.
Regarding information society and electronic communications, the program highlights the implementation of the “i2010 - A Information Society for Growth and Employment” strategy, with particular focus on the promotion of security and on the interoperability of electronic communications and services. The debate on the revision of the community framework for electronic communications (Review 2006) may lead to the presentation of legislative proposals until the end of the year, while the following measures are also expected:
- a Communication of the Commission in the scope of electronic government;
- a proposal of the Commission in the scope of the postal services Directive;
- the follow-up of the Communication of the Commission in the scope of the community policy for the radio spectrum; and
- the possible coordination and follow-up resulting from the conclusions of the World Summit on the Information Society, which took place in November 2005, specially focusing on the issue of Internet governance.
Further information:
- presidência austríaca (inglês) http://www.eu2006.at/en/index.html
- Message from Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel - Beginning of the Austrian EU Council http://www.eu2006.at/en/News/Press_Releases/January/greeting.html
- Council Work programme 2006 (em inglês) http://www.eu2006.at/en/The_Council_Presidency/Priorities_Programmes/index.html
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- EU - European Union https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=66653
