World Radiocommunication Conference 2012

World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - Adoption of Council conclusions

1. The Commission adopted its Communication on "The European Union's policy approach to the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2012" on 6 April 2011. i This Conference will be held in Geneva from 23 January to 17 February 2012.

2. World Radiocommunication Conference (WRCs) decides how the airwaves are defined, allocated and used without harmful interference between the various wireless services around the world. Historically, the Member States work out technical positions for the WRC in the CEPT, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications organisations. In its role as observer in ITU/WRC and counsellor to CEPT, the European Union seeks to ensure that its interests are appropriately represented in these bodies. For each WRC, the Commission sets out in a Communication the EU issues at stake and the common policy objectives to be pursued and in response to such Communications and in support of the technical positions worked out in the CEPT, the Council adopts conclusions on the European positions for such WRCs.

3. With its present Communication, the Commission seeks to inform the European Parliament and the Council about those items on the agenda for the forthcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12), which are of relevance to European Union policies and also proposes common policy objectives to be pursued by the Member States at WRC-12.

4. According to the Commission, there are two main areas on the agenda of WRC-12, which are particularly important in the context of the Digital Agenda for Europe, namely the digital dividend and short-range devices. Other items on the agenda of WRC-12, which have a bearing on EU policies, include air traffic management systems, broadcasting satellite services, software defined radio and cognitive radios, electronic news gathering, scientific services and spectrum requirements for systems such as Galileo.

5. In response to the Commission's Communication, the Presidency prepared and the Working Party on Telecommunications and the Information Society examined draft Council conclusions. The Working Party reached an agreement on the annexed text.

6. In view of what has been mentioned above, it is suggested that the Permanent Representatives Committee recommends to the Council the unanimous adoption of the annexed Council