No L 311/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 6. 11. 86 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 3 November 1986 on the adoption of common technical specifications of the MAC/packet family of standards for direct satellite television broadcasting (86/529/EEC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parli- ament (3), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (°), Whereas, in the near future, satellites for direct television broadcasting will be brought into service by several Euro- pean countries and subsequently new television sets corresponding to public needs will be introduced by the manufacturers ; Whereas the use of common technical specifications for direct satellite broadcasting of television programmes and possibly for their redistribution by cable is necessary in order to attain the objectives set out hereafter; Whereas the implementation of common technical speci- fications simplifies the broadcasting of television programmes in all countries of the Community and makes a significant contribution to European unification and to the development of a true European identity ; Whereas the technical capability to transmit simultaneo- usly on several sound channels opens the way to truly pan-European multilingual television programmes ; Whereas the implementation of common technical speci- fications leads to the creation of a large unified market, on which products will be freely exchanged without any technical barriers, which will be of great economic benefit for the European consumer electronics industry as regards its competitiveness ; Whereas it is indispensable that a guarantee be given to manufacturers and operators in respect of their invest- ments and supplies, by the application of common tech- nical standards at Community level ; Whereas the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the European manufacturers of the relevant branch repre- sented by their associations have perfected and published (M OJ No C 59, 14. 3. 1986, p. 3. (*) Opinion delivered on 22 October 1986 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ No C 189, 28. 7. 1986, p. 4. technical specifications forming part of the MAC/packet family for the direct television breoadcasting and the redistribution of programmes by cable; whereas these specifications have been confirmed at international level by the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR); Whereas the MAC/packet family now includes : — for direct satellite broadcasting : the system C-MAC/ packet and the system D2-MAC/packet with . frequency modulation, — for cable distribution : the system D-MAC/packet and the system D2-MAC/packet ; Whereas these systems are very largely compatible with each other on the operational level ; Whereas these systems make it possible to meet the service and economic requirements in the different national contexts ; Whereas, in view of the foreseeable technical progress in this sector, account should now be taken cf any subse- quent developments of the existing systems and provision made for an eventual review of this Directive, HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE : Article 1 For direct operational satellite telvision broadcasting, and subsequent redistribution by cable, Member States shall take all measures by law or administrative action to ensure the use of only the following systems : — in the case of direct broadcasting by satellite of televi- sion programmes, the MAC/packet systems referred to in the first indent and note 2 of recommendation AE/650 of the CCIR entitled Television standard for satellite broadcasting in the channels defined by WARC BS-77 and RARC SAT-83, approved at the 16th plenary assembly at Dubrovnik, May 1986 (i.e. the C-MAC/packet system or the D2-MAC/packet system), — in the case of redistribution by cable of these programmes, the MAC cable system corresponding to _ the satellite broadcasting system should be preferred. ' However, television redistribution by cable may - continue to use existing techniques, conversion from the MAC/packet sstem used for the satellite broadcast link being made at the receiver terminal incorporated in the cable network,