Decision No 243/2012/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 3 Policy objectives

In order to focus on the priorities of this Decision, Member States and the Commission shall cooperate to support and achieve the following policy objectives:

(a)

encourage efficient management and use of spectrum to best meet the increasing demand for use of frequencies reflecting the important social, cultural and economic value of spectrum;

(b)

seek to allocate sufficient and appropriate spectrum in a timely manner to support Union policy objectives and to best meet the increasing demand for wireless data traffic, thereby allowing the development of commercial and public services, while taking into account important general interest objectives such as cultural diversity and media pluralism; to that end, every effort should be made to identify, based on the inventory established pursuant to Article 9, at least 1 200 MHz of suitable spectrum by 2015. That figure includes spectrum already in use;

(c)

bridge the digital divide and contribute to the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe, fostering access to broadband at a speed of not less than 30 Mbps by 2020 for all Union citizens and making it possible for the Union to have the highest possible broadband speed and capacity;

(d)

enable the Union to take the lead in wireless electronic communication broadband services by freeing up sufficient spectrum in cost-efficient bands for those services to be widely available;

(e)

secure opportunities for both the commercial as well as public sectors by means of increased mobile broadband capacities;

(f)

promote innovation and investment through enhanced flexibility in the use of spectrum, through a consistent application across the Union of the principles of technology and service neutrality between the technological solutions that may be adopted and through adequate regulatory predictability as provided for, inter alia, in the regulatory framework for electronic communications through the freeing up of harmonised spectrum for new advanced technologies, and through the possibility of trading rights of use of spectrum, thereby creating opportunities for future Union-wide digital services to be developed;

(g)

facilitate easy access to spectrum by harnessing the benefits of general authorisations for electronic communications in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 2002/20/EC;

(h)

encourage passive infrastructure sharing where this would be proportionate and non-discriminatory, as envisaged in Article 12 of Directive 2002/21/EC;

(i)

maintain and develop effective competition, in particular in electronic communication services, by seeking to avoid, through ex ante measures or ex post remedies, the excessive accumulation of rights of use of radio frequencies by certain undertakings which results in significant harm to competition;

(j)

reduce the fragmentation and fully exploit the potential of the internal market in order to foster economic growth and economies of scale at the level of the Union by enhancing the coordination and harmonisation of technical conditions for the use and availability of spectrum, as appropriate;

(k)

avoid harmful interference or disturbance by other radio or non-radio devices, inter alia, by facilitating the development of standards which contribute to the efficient use of spectrum, and by increasing immunity of receivers to interference, taking particular account of the cumulative impact of the increasing volumes and density of radio devices and applications;

(l)

foster the accessibility of new consumer products and technologies so as to secure consumer endorsement for the transition to digital technology and to secure efficient use of the digital dividend;

(m)

reduce the Union’s carbon footprint by enhancing the technical efficiency and energy efficiency of wireless communication networks and equipment.