The Assembly of Parties (AP) of the European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (EUTELSAT IGO) met last 15-16 May in Paris, under the leadership of Marta Leandro of Portugal.
The AP re-elected Christian Roisse of France to a third term as executive secretary (ES) of that organisation. Candidates from Italy and Poland had also been put forward for the position.
The Assembly noted the operator's fulfilment of the basic principles and adopted the budgets for financial years July 2013-June 2014 and July 2014-June 2015.
A resolution was also adopted concerning the use of satellites to plug the digital gap. The 49 parties were urged to consider the advantages of satellite broadband services for internet access and the supply of public services.
The AP was informed of deliberate interference by Iran, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia with Eutelsat satellite emissions. Recent cases of acts of piracy were also identified.
Regarding the Advisory Committee (AC) the AP decided that it would comprise the following Parties: Croatia, France, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. As an exception this committee will be composed of seven parties and not six, as envisaged in the current AC mandate. This is because no country accepted withdrawing its candidacy. The Assembly mandated the ES and the AC to review the AC’s mandate, namely with respect to the determination of criteria for its members' rotation.
The next AP has been scheduled for 22-23 April 2015.
