The fifth meeting of the RSPG working group (WG) on the European Electronic Communications Code (RSPG EECC) was held last 6-7 December in Brussels. This WG is chaired by France (ANFR – Agence Nationale des Fréquences), Hungary (NMHH – National Media and Infocommunications authority) and Germany (Ministry of Transportation and Digital Infrastructure). It was set up early in the year to identify new tasks the RSPG should carry out and to propose actions needed to achieve them (e.g. amendments to the rules of procedure (RoP) and to the decision establishing the RSPG, identification of new items to include in the group’s work programme and adjustment of the peer review (PR) to rules envisaged in the code).
Participants in the meeting included representatives of the Commission and delegates representing 11 member-states1. Portugal was represented by ANACOM.
The meeting’s main results were the following:
- The proposed RSPG report containing exhaustive analysis of the Code articles impacting the RSPG, with the aim of indicating new tasks and amendments to be made to the Commission decision creating the RSPG and/or that group’s RoP, was finished. Highlights include the RSPG tasks associated to strengthening the good offices (cross-border coordination) and the peer review (workshop for analysis by peers applicable to allocation processes for bands harmonised for mobile broadband). This proposed report will be submitted for approval at the RSPG plenary meeting in January 2019;
- It was decided, subject to confirmation by the plenary meeting, that this analysis will be submitted to the next RSPG in draft report form (as an alternative, it could have the form of an opinion);
- It was decided that the RSPG members who want to be involved in the review of the RSPG Decision and RoP with a view to helping the Commission prepare those documents will have to do so via the RSPG EECC subgroup. It will no longer be possible to do it at the next RSPG plenary meeting because it is too late;
- The debate on implementation of the peer review, namely its most sensitive aspect concerning the trigger for involuntary peer review, was postponed.
Finally, publication of the new Regulatory Framework (Code) in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) was expected on 17 December 2018, to take force three days after that date. Note that the Code, adopted by applying the co-decision procedure, was approved by the European Council on 4 December 2018 and by the European Parliament on 14 December 2018.
The next RSPG EECC meeting was scheduled for 31 January 2019 in Brussels.
