Digital Agenda/Trade: EU and US agree trade-related information and communication technology principles to be promoted world-wide

Digital Agenda/Trade: EU and US agree trade-related information and communication technology principles to be promoted world-wide

The European Commission and the US Government, under the framework of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), have agreed on a set of ten fundamental principles for trade in information and communication technology (ICT) services. The EU and the US, in cooperation with other countries, will promote these principles worldwide in order to support the global development of ICT networks & services and allow service providers to compete for contracts with local incumbents on an equal footing.
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The EU-US Trade Principles for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Services can be summarised as follows:

• Transparency of rules affecting trade in ICT and ICT services
• Open networks for consumers to access and distribute information, applications and services of their choice
• Cross-border flows of information
• No requirement to use local infrastructure for ICT services
• Governments should allow full foreign participation in their ICT services sector, through establishment or other means
• Efficient and maximised use of radio spectrum
• Independence of regulatory authorities overseeing ICT services
• Simple authorisation of competitive telecommunications services
• ICT service suppliers must have the right to interconnect with other service providers for access to publicly available telecommunications networks and services. Public telecom services suppliers should be able to negotiate and obtain interconnection with major suppliers at cost-oriented, non-discriminatory and transparent rates.
• International cooperation with a view to increasing the level of digital literacy in third countries and reducing the ‘digital divide’.

The EU-U.S. Trade Principles for Information and Communication Technology Services are available here:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/internationalrel/docs/eu-us-tradeprinciples.pdf

Digital Agenda website:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/index_en.htm

Source:  European Commission

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