Advisory Committee - Paris

The 11th meeting of the Eutelsat IGO Advisory Committee was held on 10-11 February in Paris, where the main aim was to prepare for the next Assembly of Parties (AP), scheduled for 6-8 April.

Besides preparing its report to the Assembly, the Committee also studied the draft budgets for the next two years drawn up by the Eutelsat Secretariat, which will be submitted for approval to the AP, incorporating modifications resulting from debate in the Advisory Committee.

The Committee also considered the Executive Secretariat?s report on the outcome of the process of negotiation with the company Eutelsat SA, following recent modifications to the latter?s management and statutes. The result of the negotiations was held to be positive, as Eutelsat was able to obtain from the company satisfaction of the conditions set out in the Assembly of Parties resolution adopted at the 32nd extraordinary session (July 2004), which sought to safeguard the IGO?s interests during the process of modifying the company?s statutes. Note as a main result the fact that the IGO?s power to oversee the company?s activities was strengthened, as the IGO executive secretary was given a place on the company?s board of directors, with observer status.

An issue concerning French legislation applicable to the diffusion of television channels by satellite (the main business of Eutelsat SA) was also covered. It requires extra-community channels transmitted by satellite systems operating in France (the case of Eutelsat SA) to be subject to the authorisation and supervision of the authority that oversees the audiovisual domain in France; that authority has already ordered the suspension of two channels disseminated by Eutelsat for transmitting racist programming (one of the cases was publicised during the very Committee session).

The company has been asking for IGO support to intercede with the French authorities in order to revise this legislation, which the former holds to impose an additional burden placing it in a disadvantageous position vis-à-vis competitors in other countries. This is specifically because in almost every case Eutelsat, as space segment operator, does not have direct contact with those responsible for the programmes, rather only with the intermediate operator, usually in another country, with whom it contracts the transmission capacity. The Advisory Committee should submit this question to consideration by the Assembly of Parties.

An extraordinary Committee meeting has been scheduled for 18 March, before the Assembly of Parties, to study developments, and eventually make proposals to the Assembly of Parties, involving both the issue of extra-community channels and the proposal by Eutelsat?s main shareholders to set up a holding with almost all of its capital.

The next ordinary meeting should take place in October, though it will be up to the new Advisory Committee appointed by the AP to set the exact date.