Mobile and personal communications in the European Union. Green paper

In adopting the report by Mr Javier Areitio Toledo, the European Parliament welcomed the Commission's Green Paper and the proposals put forward. It acknowledged that mobile network operators should develop within a competitive environment which required the abolition of exclusive and special rights and the granting of authorisations on the basis of transparent procedures. However, it pointed out that the number of licences awarded should be commensurate with capacity to meet the general terms governing service authorisation and, in particular, public-service constraints. The EP emphasised the importance of the balanced trading relationship which should unite operators and service providers, and thus called for a code of conduct and measures to protect consumers' interests (making tariffs transparent and lower). It hoped that commercial agreements would regulate the issue of mobile network interconnection with fixed networks and highlighted the fundamental role, for mobile communications, of the availability of a sufficiently wide frequency spectrum so as to make it possible to plan investment. Finally, the EP strengthened the Commission's proposals with regard to the environmental impact of infrastructures, the aspects linked to defence and public order, communications privacy and the introduction of universal service requirements. �