No L 199/32 Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 7. 97 DIRECTIVE 97/33/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 30 June 1997 on interconnection in Telecommunications with regard to ensuring universal service and interoperability through application of the principles of Open Network Provision (ONP) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Commiittee (%), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (°) in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 19 March 1997, (1) Whereas from 1 January 1998, with transition periods for certain Member States, the provision of telecommunications services and infrastructure in the Community will be liberalized; whereas the Council Resolution of 7 February 1994 on universal service principles in the telecommunications sector (*) recog- nizes that in order to promote Community-wide tele- communications services there is a need to ensure interconnection of public networks and, in the future competitive environment, interconnection between different national and Community operators; whereas Council Directive 90/387/EEC of 28 June 1990 on the establishment of the internal market for telecom- munications services through the implementation of open network provision (*) lays down harmonized principles for open and efficient access to, and use of, public telecommunications networks and, where applicable, publicly available services; whereas the Council Resolution of 22 July 1993 on the review of the situation in the telecommunications sector and the need for further development in that market (%) recognizes that open network provision measures provide an appropriate framework for harmonizing () OJ No C 313, 24. 11. 1995, p. 7. () OJ No C 153, 28. 5. 1996, p. 2I. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 14 February 1996 (O] No C 65, 4. 3. 1996, p. 69), Council Common Position of 18 June 1996 (OJ No C 220, 29. 7. 1996, p. 13) and Decision of the European Parliament of 19 September 1996 (O] No C 320, 28. 10. 1996, p. 138). Council Decision of 2 June 1997. Decision of European Parliament of 11 June 1997. () OJ No C 48, 16. 2. 1994, p. 1. () O No L 192, 24. 7. 1990, p. 1. (9 OJ No C 213, 6. 8. 1993, p. 1. interconnection conditions; whereas this harmoniza- tion is essential for the establishment and proper functioning of the internal market for telecommuni- cations services; whereas the Council Resolution of 18 September 1995 on the implementation of the future regulatory framework for telecommunica- tions (') recognizes as key factors of this future regu- latory framework the maintenance and development of a universal service as well as a specific regulation on interconnection, and sets out some guidelines on these subjects; (2) Whereas a general framework for interconnection to public telecommunications networks and publicly available telecommunications services, irrespective of the supporting technologies employed, is needed in order to provide end-to-end interoperability of services for Community users; whereas fair, propor- tionate and non-discriminatory conditions for inter- connection and interoperability are key factors in fostering the development of open and competitive markets; (3) Whereas the abolition of special and exclusive rights in telecommunications means that certain existing definitions need to be revised; whereas for the purposes of this Directive, telecommunications services do not include radio and television broad- casting services; whereas the technical conditions, tariffs, usage and supply conditions that apply to interconnection may be different from the condi- tions that apply at end-user/network interfaces; (4) Whereas the regulatory framework for interconnec- tion covers those situations where the interconnected networks are used for the commercial provision of publicly available telecommunications services; whereas the regulatory framework for interconnec- tion does not cover cases where a telecommunica- tions network is used for the provision of telecom- munications services available only to a specific end-user or to a closed user, group, but covers only cases where a telecommunications network is used for the provision of publicly available services; whereas telecommunications networks which are interconnected may be owned by the parties involved or may be based on leased lines and/or transmission capacity not owned by the parties involved; () OJ No C 258, 3. 10. 1995, p. 1.