Belgium

[BE] Cooperation Agreement on Broadcasting between the Federal State and the Language Communities in Belgium Can Enter into Force

IRIS 2007-10:1/8

François Jongen

Catholic University of Louvain, Avocat (lawyer)

Following the Federal State Act (Act of 27 December 2006, published in the Moniteur Belge of 28 December 2006), the Flemish-speaking Community Decree (Decree of 4 May 2007, published in the Moniteur Belge of 2 July 2007) and the German-speaking Community Decree (Decree of 25 June 2007, published in the Moniteur Belge of 6 August 2007), the French-speaking Community has now adopted its Decree of 2 July 2007, published in the Moniteur Belge on 19 September 2007, assenting to the agreement on cooperation in electronic communications concluded on 17 November 2006. The agreement could therefore enter into force immediately.

The agreement - which has as its full title the “cooperation agreement concerning mutual consultation at the time of drawing up legislation in respect of electronic telecommunications networks, at the time of exchanging information and of exercising the competences in respect of electronic communication networks by the regulatory authorities with responsibility for telecommunications or radio and television broadcasting” - had been urgently suggested by the Court of Arbitration (since renamed the Constitutional Court). The Court, in suggesting this agreement included, a number of legal provisions adopted by both the federal State and the separate Communities in violation of the rules for the allocation of areas of competence. The issue of conflicting competences has become increasingly acute in recent years in Belgium with the growing convergence of telecom networks (for which the State has competence) and cable networks, which were initially intended solely for broadcasting (and are the responsibility of the Communities).

The cooperation agreement, which came into force on 19 September 2007, provides more specifically for the setting up of a conference of regulators in the electronic communications sector ( Conférence des Régulateurs du Secteur des Communications Electroniques - CRC) that brings together the national IBPT, the French-speaking Community's CSA, the Flemish-speaking Community's VRM, and the German-speaking Community's Medienrat .