TELECOMMUNICATIONS: CONCILIATION AGREEMENT ON NEW EQUIPMENT DIRECTIVE.

Summary: Meeting on December 8 in Brussels, it was a fairly painless process for the European Parliament/Council of Ministers Conciliation Committee to reach an agreement on a draft Directive on radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity. The idea is to create a legal framework for marketing, trading freely and commissioning telecommunications equipment throughout the EU. Most of the European Parliamentary amendments that offended the Council's sensibilities focused on the essential requirements applicable to this equipment.

This Directive will replace two existing pieces of legislation (91/263/EEC on terminal equipment and 93/97/EEC on satellite earth station equipment). The aim is to streamline the procedure for marketing new equipment: the new more flexible system is based on specific assessments and unilateral declarations of conformity from manufacturers. This is the case for TV sets and computers subject to general safety requirements and specific electromagnetic compatibility constraints. The development of new products with a fairly short lifespan has succeeded in turning the telecommunications market on its head. Hence the need to simplify the approval and licensing procedures. The proposal covers telecommunications equipment (connected or cordless) and all kinds of radio equipment used for telecommunications, broadcasting or remote-controlled systems. It determines the essential requirements along with the procedures to...