Council adopts Directive on satellite earth station equipment
The Council of the European Communities unanimously adopted a Directive in respect of satellite earth station equipment, supplementing Directive 91/263/EEC, at its 1,698th meeting of 29 September 1993. The Directive extends to satellite earth station equipment the principles defined in Directive 91/263/EEC, which introduced the full mutual recognition of type approval for telecommunications terminal equipment, and at the same time established the Approvals Committee for Terminal Equipment (ACTE) composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission. Harmonizing conditions for the marketing of satellite earth station equipment will support an open and unified market, and also seeks to achieve an effective use of orbital resources and of the radio frequency spectrum, facilitating the avoidance of interference between space-based and terrestrial communications systems and other technical systems. An Annex to the Decision describes the procedure by which manufacturers shall ensure and declare that the products concerned satisfy the requirements of the Directive.