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The 16th Plenary Meeting of The EaPeReg Network

The 16th Plenary Meeting of the EaPeReg Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) initially intended to take place in Warsaw (Poland) was held in an online format on December 3, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizational support for the meeting was provided by Cecoforma with the financial support of the European Commission.

The event was attended by representatives of telecommunication regulatory bodies from 6 Eastern Partnership countries and several EU Member States as well as representatives of the International Telecommunication Union, the European Commission, BEREC, EMERG, the World Bank Group and EU4Digital experts from E&Y.

The main goal of the Plenary meeting was to discuss the following topics:

• Assessment of EaPeReg work in 2020 including EWGs (IRB EWG, REWG, SEWG) reports
• EaPeReg 2020 activities and external cooperation (with BEREC, ITU and EMERG)
• Presentation of the EU4Digital Facility experts on project work streams activities (roaming, independence of NRAs, spectrum and broadband)
• Election of the EaPeReg Chair and Vice-Chair 2021
• Future development of EaPeReg website
• Information concerning next Plenary meeting (spring 2021)

The event was moderated by the EaPeReg Chair 2020 Mr. Karol Krzywicki, Deputy President of UKE, (Poland).

The EaPeReg Chair 2020, Mr. Karol Krzywicki and Vice-Chair 2020, Mr. Elmir Velizade, Deputy Minister of the MTCHT, (Azerbaijan), as well as the BEREC Vice-Chair for 2020, Mr. Jeremy Godfrey, the EC representative, Mr. Vassilis Kopanas, DG Connect and the EMERG representative, Ms. Paola Calestani made welcome speeches.

The speakers highlighted the key activities of EaPeReg in 2020 and expressed their satisfaction due to the results attained within all three Expert Working Groups. Thus, the targets set for the current year are, as noted positively, almost achieved. The developing regional and international relations of EaPeReg established with different institutions were indicated as well.  

The E&Y project team leader presented the progress report on international roaming, NRA independence and spectrum development. He mentioned that the drafts of Regional Roaming Agreement and Regional Spectrum Agreement are agreed among both EWG members and ready for internal procedures in all 6 countries. Representatives of the World Bank presented the progress report on project activities related to broadband strategy and infrastructure mapping.

In the next part of the Plenary meeting Mr. Vassilis Kopanas from DG CONNECT presented the EU process of defining Eastern Partnership Deliverables post-2020 in relation to the findings of the Summary of the HDM Panel.

Thereafter, the EaPeReg EWGs’ Chairs reported on groups’ activities done in 2020, as well as their visions on directions of groups considering the trends in the telecom field and main plans for 2021.

The next agenda item referred to the information about the EaPeReg’s international cooperation and joint activities with BEREC, EMERG and ITU. EMERG representative expressing the EMERG`s satisfaction with ongoing relations with EaPeReg as a good common platform for cooperation and exchange of experiences proposed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between EaPeReg and EMERG.  

The subsequent part of the Plenary meeting was dedicated to elections of the EaPeReg Leadership for 2021. It was unanimously accepted that EaPeReg Chair in 2021 will be Ukraine/ National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization (NCCIR) while the EaPeReg Vice-Chair 2021 will be Sweden/ Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS).

The final part of the Plenary meeting was mainly devoted to organizational issues, including information on the development of the EaPeReg website and information on the next Plenary meeting in the first half of 2021. As there has been technical and security challenge with maintenance of the EaPeReg website, before the Plenary the EaPeReg leadership addressed the EC and the E&Y project team with the assistance to eliminate the issue. Considering the request, the new concept was presented by the representative of E&Y with the most optimal solution of taking the EaPeReg website under the EU4Digital`s one. The representative also indicated the possibility of both content and technical maintenance at the same time. The participants supported the proposal.

The incoming chair of EaPeReg briefly presented the draft Work Plan for 2021 and expressed the hope of restoring the physical meetings in 2021 and possibility of holding the next Plenary meeting in Kyiv.

At the end the meeting was closed with the final remarks of Mr. Karol Krzywicki and Mr. Elmir Velizade.