ACTIVITIES :: International Relations :: Dialogue Coop

Policy dialogues and economic cooperation on IS

The Commission Communication “i 2010 – A European information society for growth and jobs”, adopted on 1 June 2005, recognises the necessity of an “integrated approach to information society and audiovisual media policies in the EU” as “communication networks, media, content, services and devices are undergoing digital convergence”.

The EU regulatory framework for electronic communications that became applicable in July 2003 comprises a series of legal texts and associated measures that apply throughout the 25 EU Member States. The goals of the new framework are to encourage competition in the electronic communications markets, to improve the functioning of the internal market and to guarantee basic user interests that would not be guaranteed by market forces. The framework provides a set of rules that are simple, aimed at deregulation, technology neutral and sufficiently flexible to deal with fast changing markets in the electronic communications sector. The Framework has become an international reference for its flexibility and adaptability to technological innovation.

Regarding audiovisual policy the "Television without Frontiers" directive (89/552/EEC), adopted on 3 October 1989 by the Council and amended on 30 June 1997 by the European Parliament and the Council Directive 97/36/EC, establishes the legal frame of reference for the free movement of television broadcasting services in the Union in order to promote the development of a European market in broadcasting and related activities, such as television advertising and the production of audiovisual programmes. The Commission Communication “i 2010 announces that the Commission will propose a "revision of the Television without frontiers directive to modernise the rules on audiovisual media services".

Promoting the EU approach to IS regulation and Media

At International level the work and development related to Regulatory Policy includes a number of bilateral and regional policy dialogues and negotiations:

The EU Enlargement process involves that all new member states adopt the EU communications policy and audiovisual legislation fully. This means that all new member states will have subscribed to a competitive market approach for all communications services to be overseen by a fully independent regulatory authority. The main link between audiovisual policy and the enlargement process is through alignment with the Community acquis (mainly the Television Without Frontiers Directive) as well as through the participation in Community programmes.
Relations with our eastern and southern neighbours are receiving more and more attention. Read the Communication from the Commission on the Wider Europe Neighbourhood. Information about the EUROMED Ministerial Conference on Information Society, Cairo, 26-27 February 2008.
With industrialised countries, notably the OECD member countries USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, Korea and Mexico, meetings and exchanges on information society and electronic commerce matters take place at frequent intervals. Exchanges on audiovisual policy issues take place also through bilateral cooperation and in multilateral fora.
Our relations with emerging market economies and developing countries on information society matters are being reinforced and put into a more formal format through co-operation agreements or exchange of letters. This is the case notably for China, India, Brazil / Latin America and Russia. A first Asia-Europe (ASEM) ICT Ministers meeting was held in Ha Noi, Vietnam, on 30 November 2006. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership develops and finances programmes in the audio-visual and cultural field through the MEDA mechanism.

In addition, the Commission is working on a number of global topics, such as internet governance and cooperation on Information Society at international level as well as other key issues such as convergent digital technologies, intellectual property rights (IPRs) and digital rights management (DRMs), open source software (OSS) and digital television.

Economic cooperation on IS

Synergies are developed between EU Information Society activities and related EU economic co-operation programmes to contribute to the implementation of several international initiatives in the fields of technology transfer and dissemination as well as policy and regulation, notably for Asia (Asia Invest), Latin America (@LIS) and the Mediterranean area (Eumedis and NATP2).

Main cooperation programmes and projects

Asia Invest: The programme aims to facilitate business co-operation between the EU and Asia. One of its priorities is to promote integration of Asian countries into the Information Society through business orientated information technologies.

@LIS: The programme aims to reinforce the partnership between the European Union and Latin America in the field of the Information Society. Its objectives are to establish dialogue and cooperation on policy and regulatory frameworks in key areas and to boost interconnections between research networks and communities in both regions.

Eumedis and NATP2: The regional Eumedis project (2002-2006), funded by the MEDA Programme, has covered initiatives concerning e-Business, e-Health, tourism and culture, innovation and education, including the Eumedconnect project for networking between research institutions. The MEDA regional project NATP2 (2005-2008) focuses on the regulatory framework for electronic communications and on e-Government to promote the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society.

Research Co-operation

For information on IST research see International Cooperation in IST research

Audiovisual

For more information on international cooperation on audiovisual policy see Co-operation in the field of audio-visual and culture

Last update: 23/10/2009