Satellite communications: the provision of and access to space segment capacity

The committee adopted the draft resolution, the first part of which deplored the fact that the Commission had failed to enclose a draft resolution with its communication, as it had done with its communication on satellite navigation services. The draft therefore called on the Commission to enclose a draft resolution with this communication and with other pre-legislative communications so that the institutions involved in the legislative process, i.e. the European Parliament and the Council, could state their position on drafts submitted on an equally footing. At the same time, the draft resolution called on the Member States to act on the basis of a common position and take steps within international satellite telecommunications organisations, such as INTELSAT, IMMARSAT and EUTELSAT, which would help to ensure that space segment capacities are allocated in a non-discriminatory manner. The Member States were called on to adopt a balanced common approach which would allow orbital resources and the concomitant frequencies to be managed efficiently. The draft felt that the principle of free access to the satellite sector should apply equally to public corporations under full or partial control of the national telecommunications authorities and private operators. Finally, the draft suggested the possibility of setting up a central supervisory body in charge of controlling space segment capacity suppliers in Europe, be they telecommunications agencies, consortia involving telecommunications agencies or purely private operators, in order to guarantee access to the space segment and fair competition.�