Commission Decision of 11 June 2019 setting up the Radio Spectrum Policy Group and repealing Decision 2002/622/EC (Text with EEA relevance.)

An advisory group on radio spectrum policy, called the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (‘the Group’), is established.

1 The Group shall assist and advise the Commission: (a) on strategic radio spectrum policy issues in the Union; (b) on the coordination of radio spectrum policy approaches in the Union; (c) by issuing opinions concerning legislative proposals for multiannual radio spectrum policy programmes and for the purpose of releasing harmonised spectrum for shared use or for use not subject to individual rights; (d) by issuing opinions in relation to Commission recommendations regarding the harmonised application of the provisions of the regulatory framework for electronic communications in the field of radio spectrum, without prejudice to the role of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (‘BEREC’); (e) on coordination and cooperation between the Commission, Member States and relevant competent authorities in relation to the implementation of existing radio spectrum Union legislation, programmes and policies; (f) where appropriate, on harmonised conditions with regard to the availability and efficient use of radio spectrum, necessary for the establishment and functioning of the internal market.

2 The Group shall assist Member States in cooperating with each other and with the Commission and, upon their request with the Council and the European Parliament, in support of the strategic planning and coordination of radio spectrum policy approaches in the Union, by: (a) developing best practices on radio spectrum related matters, with a view to implementing Union law; (b) facilitating coordination between Member States with a view to implementing Union law and to contributing to the development of the internal market; (c) coordinating Member States' approaches to the assignment and authorisation of radio spectrum use and publishing reports and opinions on radio spectrum related matters.

3 The Group shall assist Member States in the cross-border coordination of radio spectrum use to ensure that the use of radio spectrum on their territory is organised in a way that ensures that no other Member State is prevented from allowing the use of radio spectrum on its territory, in particular harmonised radio spectrum, in accordance with Union law, especially due to cross-border harmful interference between Member States. For this purpose, at the request of any affected Member State, the Group shall provide its good offices to resolve any problem or dispute between Member States, as well as with third countries, in relation to cross-border coordination or cross-border harmful interference which prevent Member States from using radio spectrum in their territory. As regards harmonised radio spectrum, the Group may issue an opinion to propose a coordinated solution to such a problem or dispute between Member States.

4 The Group shall assist the Commission in its preparatory work on proposals to the Council for the adoption of decisions in accordance with Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union establishing the positions to be adopted on the Union's behalf in international organisations competent in radio spectrum matters.

5 The Group may organise meetings to allow national regulatory or other competent authorities, upon their request, to discuss and exchange views and experiences relating to the authorisation processes and conditions of the use of radio spectrum.

6 Without prejudice to paragraph 5, from 21 December 2020, the Group shall convene, for the purposes of Article 35 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, peer review forum meetings in relation to radio spectrum for which harmonised conditions have been set by technical implementing measures in accordance with Decision 676/2002/EC in order to enable the use of radio spectrum for wireless broadband networks and services, at the request of the national regulatory authority or other competent authority of the Member State concerned or, in exceptional cases as referred to in Article 35(2) of the Code at the initiative of the Group.

The members of the Group shall be Member States' authorities. Each Member State shall appoint a high-level representative with overall responsibility for strategic radio spectrum policy. The Commission shall participate in all meetings of the Group, at the appropriate level, and provide the secretariat to the Group.

1 At the Commission's request or on its own initiative, the Group shall adopt opinions and reports addressed to the Commission. The opinions and reports shall be based on consensus or, if that is not possible, on a simple majority, with each member having one vote. Members who have voted against shall have the right to have a statement summarising the reasons for their position annexed to the opinions or reports.

2 Following a European Parliament or Council request for an opinion or a report of the Group on radio spectrum policy issues relating to electronic communications, the Group shall adopt such an opinion or report in accordance with the rules set out in paragraph 1. The Group shall submit its opinion and report to the institution that requested it and to the Commission. Where appropriate, the opinion or report may be in the form of an oral presentation to the European Parliament or the Council by the chairperson of the Group or a member nominated by the Group.

3 The Group shall elect a chairperson from among its members. The Commission may set up sub-groups for the purpose of examining specific questions based on terms of reference defined by the Commission. Sub-groups shall operate in compliance with the horizontal rules defined by the Commission on the creation and operation of Commission expert groups and shall report to the Group. The sub-groups shall be dissolved as soon as their mandate is fulfilled.

4 The Commission may convene the meetings of the Group on any matter within its competence through the secretariat in agreement with the chairperson. The Commission shall do so where necessary for the application of Article 2(2) of this Decision.

5 The Group shall adopt its rules of procedure upon a proposal from the Commission, by consensus or, in the absence of consensus, by a simple majority vote, with one vote expressed per Member State. The rules of procedure shall be subject to the approval of the Commission.

6 The Group may invite observers, including those from European Economic Area countries and those countries that are candidates for accession to the Union, from the CEPT and ETSI to attend its meetings; it may also hear experts and interested parties. The observers shall nominate their representatives. The observers and their representatives may be permitted by the chairperson to take part in discussions and share their expertise. However, the observers shall not have voting rights and shall not participate in the formulation of the Group's recommendations or advice. Where the Group considers it appropriate to collect evidence in preparing an opinion or a report, it may invite relevant representatives from the industry to present positions at its meetings.

7 Where the Group considers it appropriate, it may invite experts from national regulatory or other competent authorities and from BEREC to participate in its meetings. For the purposes of Article 35 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, the Group shall allow the participation of experts from national regulatory or other competent authorities referred to by Directive (EU) 2018/1972 and from BEREC. Subject to detailed rules to be agreed with BEREC and with the Commission, the Group shall allow BEREC to participate in its activities on issues relating to market regulation and competition related to radio spectrum that fall within BEREC competence.

Without prejudice to Articles 2 and 4, as regards information to be transmitted to the European Parliament and participation of European Parliament experts in the meetings of the Group, point 15, Annex I and Annex II of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission shall apply.

The Group shall consult extensively and at an early stage with market participants, consumers and end-users in an open and transparent manner.

Where the Commission states that the opinion requested or the question raised is of a confidential nature, members of the Group as well as observers and any other person attending a Group meeting shall be under an obligation not to disclose information which has come to their knowledge through the work of the Group, its subgroups or expert working groups. In such cases, the Commission may decide that members of the Group only may attend meetings.

The members of the group and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers, are subject to the obligation of professional secrecy, which by virtue of the Treaties and the rules implementing them applies to all members of the institutions and their staff, as well as to the Commission's rules on security regarding the protection of Union classified information, laid down in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 and (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 . Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

1 The group and sub-groups shall be registered in the Register of expert groups.

2 As concerns the group composition, the following data shall be published on the Register of expert groups: (a) the name of observers; (b) the name of Member States' authorities; (c) the name of third countries' authorities.

3 All relevant documents, including the agendas, the minutes and the participants' submissions, shall be made available either on the Register of expert groups or via a link from the Register to a dedicated website, where this information can be found. Access to dedicated websites shall not be submitted to user registration or any other restriction. In particular, the agenda and other relevant background documents shall be published in due time ahead of the meeting, followed by timely publication of minutes. Exceptions to publication shall only be foreseen where it is deemed that disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

4 In agreement with the Commission, the Group may, by simple majority of its members, decide that deliberations shall be public.

1 Participants in the activities of the Group and sub-groups shall not be remunerated for the services they offer.

2 For the meetings of the Group, the reimbursement of travel expenses by the Commission is limited to one person per Member State delegation. Travel expenses of observers and experts or other interested parties covered by Article 4(6) shall not be reimbursed by the Commission, nor expenses involved where the Group, its Chairperson or his representatives meet interested parties.

3 The costs involved in the organisation of meetings of the Group shall be covered by the Commission in so far as such meetings take place in Brussels. For meetings of the Group held outside Brussels in the European Union, only travel expenses shall be covered by the Commission.

4 The Commission may order external studies to support the work of the Group. In this case, the Commission shall have the right to decide on the need for the study, shall cover the costs involved and shall be responsible for the management of such studies.

5 The costs involved in the establishment and maintenance of the Group's website shall be covered by the Commission.

Decision 2002/622/EC is repealed.