The Assembly of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) met in extraordinary session last 19-20 March in Copenhagen. The aim of the meeting was to finalise the ongoing reform, which has caused changes to the organisation’s structure and leadership.
The gathering chaired by Malta thus approved the two remaining recommendations, from a 21-recommendation package prepared over the last two years by the CEPT Task Force mandated by the June 2007 Amsterdam Assembly, as well as subsequent changes to the Rules of Procedure. However, it was not possible to approve the amendments proposed by the same Task Force for the CEPT constitutive document - the Arrangement.
The Arrangement amendments require agreement by two-thirds of the CEPT member States, or 32 States. But at this extraordinary Assembly only 31 countries voted in favour of those amendments. Administrations such as Spain, the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation were reluctant to vote in favour, particularly with respect to the new text proposed for articles 6 and 7 of the Arrangement. Given this impasse, the director of the European Radiocommunication Office (ERO) should again contact the administrations in writing with a view to obtaining the one vote needed to assure approval of the amended Arrangement.
Following the approval of Recommendations 14 and 15, the working group on ITU Affairs (WG ITU) became a Committee and was re-designated as the Committee for ITU Policy (Com-ITU). The new tripartite co-chairmanship began its duties at the end of this extraordinary Assembly. The new CEPT Presidency thus comprises the chairs of the Electronic Communications Committee (ECC), the European Committee for Postal Regulation (CERP) and the Com-ITU.
Besides the co-chairmanship, the members may summon Assemblies in the future if 60 percent of the States so desire. However, the Assembly now has a residual nature and only functions when the need for it to convene is verified. Due to pressure from some administrations, a Resolution was nevertheless voted on to ensure that the next Assembly is convened within about two years at the latest - the limit was set at the end of June 2011. That Assembly should evaluate the effectiveness and functioning of the new structure.
Regarding the next CEPT Conference, to be held in the Swiss city of Montreux next 21-22 October, the Assembly was informed that although the Swiss government was providing a generous contribution, due to the social event being prepared to commemorate the organisation's 50th anniversary it will be necessary to request a financial contribution of between 20 and 40 euros per contribution unit from the administrations.
Another issue on the Assembly's agenda concerned the presentation of candidates for positions elected at the next ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-10). France officially put forward the candidacy of François Rancy, currently director-general of the National Frequencies Agency (ANFR), for the position of director of the Radiocommunication Bureau (BR). The United Kingdom confirmed that Malcom Johnson will again be a candidate for the position of director of the Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau (TSB) and that the respective ministerial-level support has already been confirmed.
