Report on the ITU Council and its relationship with CITEL - Functions of the ITU Council

The present Report is aimed at highlighting the importance of the Council’s functions and the study conducted by CITEL to secure consensus-based positions on matters pertaining to this body, which was established in 1947 by decision of the Plenipotentiary Conference (PP) held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United Status in 1947.

It is comprised of a maximum of 25% (46 members) of the total number of Member States (190) elected by the PP from among the five Administrative Regions of the world defined by ITU: the Americas (8 members), Western Europe (8 members), Eastern Europe (5 members), Africa (13 members), and Asia and Australasia (12 members).

It is mandated by the PP and examines general matters of telecommunication policy so as to guarantee that ITU activities, policies, and strategies provide a valid response to the dynamic and changing environment of telecommunications, submitting to every PP that is convened every four years the Union’s draft policymaking and strategic planning.

It is responsible for the Union’s sound functioning, coordinates working programs, approves biennial budgets and monitors finances, expenditures, and management pertaining to the General Secretariat and the Bureaux of the Union’s three sectors (Telecommunication Standardization, Telecommunication Development, and Radiocommunications).

It facilitates the application of the provisions of the Constitution, the Agreement, International Telecommunication Regulations, Radiocommunication Regulations, and PP decisions and, if applicable, the decisions of other conferences and meetings of the Union.

CITEL and the consensus obtained from examining matters dealt with by ITU’s Council-05

In CITEL, Argentina chairs the Working Group to prepare for the meetings of the ITU Council, whereas Colombia, USA, and Mexico are the Vice-Chairs. The WG uses an online electronic forum to enter and discuss documents.

At its XIV meeting (Buenos Aires, December 2004) and XV meeting (Washington, June 2005), the reports submitted by the Coordinators designated by the WG (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States) were examined to conduct a follow-up on the most important issues dealt with by the ITU Council. As a result of the debates, 18 consensus-based positions were adopted and will be presented at the plenary sessions and the sessions of the Commissions of Council-05.

Draft biennial budget for 2006-2007 [1]

The result of the debate was the consensus-based opinion (Opinion 49) not to increase the amount of the contributory unit (Sw F 315,000).

It was agreed that, if a decision was taken to make budget cutbacks, they would be made directly on the activity or area subject to the reduction. The last decision was reached by consensus and was recorded as (Opinion 50).

International Telecommunication Regulations (Resolution 121/PP-02)

Regarding the Report submitted by the Working Group established by the Council, reporting completion of its studies, three alternatives were considered: a) keep the ITR without any changes, b) change the ITR by including new regulatory standards, or c) render them null and void, transferring their provisions to the ITU-T Constitution, Agreement, and Recommendations.

It was agreed to approve distribution of the Report of the Council WG to the Administrations, pursuing its study at a regional level inside PCC.I and the Conference Preparatory Working Group in preparation of PP-06 and, by association, the present WG (Opinion 54).

The United States Administration stated its reasons for not dropping the ITR and therefore highlighted the importance of continuing to focus attention on this matter.

ITU Structure – Report of the Working Group (Resolution 106/PP-02)

Improvement of functioning of the Steering Committee – Report of the Working Group (Resolution 108/PP-02)

Compilation of provisions regarding observers – Report of the Working Group (Resolution 109/PP-02, Agreement 519)

Financial regulations - Report of the Working Group (Resolution 1210, Resolution 107/PP 02) [2]

It was agreed that, for each Report corresponding to the four WGs, note would be taken of the reports and their dissemination would be accepted, with a continuation, in CITEL, of the studies that are linked to PP-06 (Opinions 55, 56, 57, and 58).

It was agreed that Canada would request precisions about whether a proposal would be made to enable the Steering Committee to decide on the prioritization of activities to be developed by the ITU, which to date come under the jurisdiction of the member states and should continue to be under their jurisdiction (Opinion 61).

It was agreed that the WG on Financial Regulations would continue functioning to finish examining determined articles of the Financial Regulations (Opinion 59). It was also agreed that a WG comprised of member states and sector members would be established regarding strategic and financial planning so that the work entrusted to it could contribute to the decision making on this matter, which will have to be decided on at the next PP-06 (Opinion 60).

The United States Administration, which had at first agreed with the establishment of this WG, conditioned it final decision on the study on this topic that the experts of its Administration would conduct.

Implementation of recommendations on revision of the Union’s management – Reports of the new Council Oversight Group (NCOG) and the Secretary-General (Dec. 7/PP-02) (R 1210, R 1216)

Agreement was reached to continue examining this process until it was completed (Opinion 52), that is, until all the Recommendations made by the Group of Specialists aimed at improving ITU’s management had been introduced.

Contribution of sector members to defray the Union’s expenses – Report of the Working Group (Resolution 110/PP-02)

The results obtained by the Council WG do not change the situation of the current system of contributions by sector associates and members.

The different criteria with regard to financial contributions were reported, highlighting that there are those in favor of changing the current situation and others in favor of keeping the status quo.

It was agreed to disseminate the Report of the WG, while continuing to study this topic in the region in connection with the preparation of PP-06 (Opinion 63).

Use of languages - Reports of the Advisory Groups and the Secretary-General (Resolution 115/PP-02; R 1210, R 1223)

It was agreed to approve the recommendations to implement the six languages that will have to be submitted to the Council on this matter (Opinion 64).

Internet: United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance; management of Internet domain names (Resolution 102(Rev.PP 02)); function of the Administrations of the member states in the management of internationalized domain names (multilingual) (Resolution 133/PP 02)

It was agreed to have the Council adopt the measures that are needed so that the ITU can contribute actively to international debates and initiatives on the management of Internet addresses and domain names (Opinion 53).

Rates of processing the notifications of satellite networks and administrative procedures – Report of the ad hoc Group (Resolution 88 (Rev.PP-02))

The XV meeting of the WG to prepare for the meetings of the Council will continue to review this topic, included in the document submitted by Brazil and connected to revision of Agreement 482.

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) – Reports of the Working Group and the Secretary-General (Resolution 113/PP-02, R 1222)

It was agreed to learn about the actions taken by the Secretary-General and the three Bureaux of the three sectors to implement the Plan of Action adopted in Phase I of the Summit, as well as the result of the meetings to prepare for the WSIS (Opinion 65).

It was also agreed to continue urging the Secretary-General to secure the necessary voluntary financial contributions so that ITU would no longer have to continue defraying the expenses required to prepare WSIS Phase II (Opinion 66).

New matters to review

The WG shall hold its XVI meeting and will meet in parallel with the Council’s sessions (Geneva, July 12-22, 2005) to complete the study of the matters so as to achieve consensus-based positions. These topics are: proposal not to introduce any changes to Recommendation A8 of the ITU-T, Future ITU events (2005-2007) (Resolution 77 (Rev.PP-02)), World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-06) (Resolution 1228), Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-06) (Resolution 112 (PP-02)), Operational Plans (2005-2008). Changes introduced in service conditions of the common United Nations system.

Antonio Cristiani
Chair
Working Group to
Prepare for the Meetings of the
Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

[1] Including reports on the new methodology for the attribution of costs and progress in implementing the budget for 2004-2005.

[2] Including the Report on improvements in ITU management and functioning and the processes whereby priorities in ITU activities are established (Resolution 109).