The EU will set its position on the World Conference...

consider revisions to the 1988 amendments to the ITU’s treaty-level International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs). The European Commission is actively involved in preparatory talks leading up to the WCIT to ensure a successful outcome for the EU, Heath said. The September meeting of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations will allow European participants to the ITU conference to work toward a common position, he said. At the same time, the EC is finalizing a proposal to the Council of Ministers for a common EU stance on issues where EU law is involved, as required by the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, he said. This should be completed in coming days, with a view to EU governments’ agreement sometime between now and Dubai, he said. Any common position must first ensure that ITR revisions don’t conflict with current EU legislation, he said. The EC also believes that “care needs to be taken to ensure that the outcome of Dubai does not limit the EU’s own policy and regulatory options in the future,” he said. Moreover, the EC isn’t convinced that any significant increase in the scope of the ITRs is justified, given the success of the current regulations in spurring the explosion of innovation, competition and investment in international telecom services seen in the intervening 24 years, he said. The U.S. proposed several revisions to the ITRs last week (CD Aug 6 p2).