II - A year marked by two important meetings of the ITU and the UPU

1 - The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU, the highest body of this organisation, was held in Kyoto (Japan) from 19 September to 14 October 1994, two years after the supplementary Plenipotentiary Conference of December 1992, which led to the adoption of important structural reforms. As part of the French delegation, the DGPT played a very active role. The decisions taken by the Conference, which followed the lines set out in 1992, basically went according to France's hopes.

- Elections

The Conference saw sweeping changes on the Executive Board and also established a new Mobile Communications Regulations Committee, composed of nine elected part-time members, who will replace the five full-time members from the former IFRB.

The total number of seats on the Executive Board was raised from 43 to 46 in order to take into account the increase in the number of Member States. The seats were redistributed between the regions, and France was solidly re-elected in first place for region B (Western Europe).

- Strategic planning

For the first time in the history of the ITU, the Plenipotentiary Conference adopted a strategic plan for all ITU activities over the next five years. France considered this plan highly important, as it will allow the ITU to better deal with changes in its operating environment. The following decisions were particularly important:

• improvement in the participation of "members" of Sectors (basically operators and manufacturers) in the work of the Union: the Conference adopted two Resolutions proposed by the CEPT, which the DGPT had taken an active part in drawing up, to strengthen the appeal of the ITU to the private sector. This was considered necessary in order to maintain the Organisation's dynamism and standing, particularly in the area of standardisation activities;
• creation of an international forum for discussion and exchanges on telecommunications policies: this forum, which will not lead to the adoption of binding decisions on Member States, should make it possible to develop a more harmonious approach to certain questions of general policy, such as the implementation of international systems and relations between the WTO and the ITU.

- Languages

At the request of the Arab countries, the question of languages was the subject of lengthy, difficult discussions; a study will be carried out before the next Plenipotentiary Conference, which will be held in 1998 in the United States, in order to find an equitable solution that is acceptable financially.

- Budget

The Conference agreed to limit growth to 1.5% in real terms, by taking into account the priority set by the Conference for implementing the entire action plan for the developing countries adopted by the international development conference in Buenos Aires in March 1994. It will be up to the executive board to distribute the annual budget between the different sectors of the Union.

2 - The main decisions of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress in Seoul

The Congress of the Universal Postal Union, the supreme body of this international organisation meets every five years. Its XXIst session was held in Seoul (South Korea), from 22 August to 14 September 1994.

Several decisions of importance for the future of the international postal sector were taken at this meeting. They aimed in particular at modernising the organisational structure and functioning of the Union and stabilising financial relations between posts.

2.1. Adoption of a reform of the Union's organisational structure:

This reform, which moves towards separating regulatory and operational functions, is intended to help the Union adapt to changes in the regulatory and business environment.

Two new councils were created to replace the Executive Council and the Consultative Council for Postal Studies:

• > The Council of Administration will basically handle matters of an inter-governmental nature. It will also play a role in overseeing the Union's business between the two Congresses and is responsible for general policy, particularly as regards mandatory services.
• > The Postal Operations Council is responsible for all operational matters, the operation of services, and business policy.

2.2. Introduction of strategic planning and a system for programme budgeting

As with all other United Nations organisations, the UPU must maintain its annual budget at the level of zero growth in real terms. Thus it has been obliged to call for extra-budgetary funds in order to finance the Union's new activities, particularly as concerns the development of EDI. Hence there is great interest in these new methods, which should allow the Union to set out its priorities for its actions, allocate them resources and evaluate the progress made in comparison with the objectives set.

2.3. Reform of the system for terminal dues

The main innovative feature of the new system adopted in Seoul, which will be implemented in 1996, concerns bulk mail. At the request of the delivery postal service, such mail could be subjected to a system of compensation based on the domestic tariffs of the delivery postal service and not only on a fixed cost arrangement, which up to now had been the only reference system and which did not reflect the real cost of delivery.

As for remailing, the delivery postal services could claim all or part of their domestic tariffs, depending upon the case, from the sending postal service. Hence the UPU is moving from a policy of fighting remailing to one that is more business-like, where the aim is to obtain adequate compensation for work performed.

2.4. The Union's language policy

French remains the only official language of the UPU, but the Congress decided to establish English as a working language and to set up a French linguistic group, so that the financing of the costs of translating documents received in English, Spanish and Arab into the official language is taken out of the general budget and allocated instead to the new linguistic group. France, with the support of 50 countries, unsuccessfully opposed the creation of this French linguistic group, arguing that it was contrary to the established policy in United Nations organisations to allocate the financial costs of the official languages to the only countries that use them.

2.5. Elections

France was elected to the Council of Administration and to the Postal Operations Council, where it was chosen to chair Commission 1 "Letter Post" which is responsible in particular for mandatory services.

As for elections to the leadership positions of the International Bureau of the UPU, the American candidate, Mr. Thomas Leavey, was chosen Director General by a very large majority. The position of Vice-Director General of the International Bureau was won by a French-speaking candidate, Mr. Mazou, who is Congolese.

The role of France in this conference

Our objectives were determined in close cooperation with La Poste and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and, with the exception of the question of languages, they were largely achieved. France played a particularly active role in the adoption of the reform on terminal dues, and strongly supported the process of modernising and updating the Union's organisational structures. Furthermore, the DGPT will commit itself on the Council of Administration to promoting the continuation of needed reforms, encouraging an increased opening up of the Union to the entire postal sector, maintaining the traditional policy of the Union in matters of cooperation, and resolving satisfactorily the question of languages.

III - Reforming the international satellite telecommunications organisations

IV - Multilateral negotiations: the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and prior steps to negotiations on basic telecommunications

Chapter III