20. 5. 92 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 137/17 II (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COUNCIL COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 92/38/EEC . of 11 May 1992 on the adoption of standards for satellite broadcasting of television signals THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a " thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), In cooperation with the European Parliament (), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas Article 3 of Council Directive 86/529/EEC of 3 November 1986 on the adoption of common technical specifications of the MAC/packet family of standards for direct satellite television broadcasting () made provision for the adoption of measures to replace that Directive ; Whereas the Community, through Decision 89/337/ EEC (°) and Decision 89/630/EEC (%), recognized the stra- tegic importance of high-definition television (HDTV) for the European consumer electronics industry and for the European television and film industries, and established the strategy framework for the introduction of HDTV services in Europe; . Whereas Directive 86/529/EEC, in particular in Article 2, established a dual regime by limiting the application of the Directive to one type of satellite, and, as a result, a dual market appeared with the use of MAC standards in broadcasting satellite service (BSS) and mainly PAL and Secam in fixed satellite service (FSS); whereas this should be avoided in the future in order to prevent a split in the satellite market ; () OJ No C 194, 25. 7. 1991, p. 20 and OJ No C 332, 21. 12. 1991, p. 13. p- 13 (®» OJ No C 326, 16. 12. 1991, p. 71 and OJ No C 94, 13. 4. 1992. () OJ No C 40, 17. 2. 1992, p. 101. () O] No L 311, 6. 11. 1986, p. 28. () OJ No L 142, 25. 5. 1989, p. 1. () OF No L 363, 13. 12. 1989, p. 30. Whereas, in order to reach Community goals as set out in the abovementioned Decisions and to contribute to the achievement of an internal market, as provided for in Article 8 (a) of the Treaty, in satellite broadcasting of tele- vision signals, it is necessary to take steps to create a convergence of standards, using in parallel a regulatory instrument and an agreement between major actors in the market ; Whereas it is in the best interests of European consumers to follow a path towards HDTV based on the criteria of compatibility and evolution, in order to avoid discontinui- ties and duplication of investments ; Whereas HD-MAC has been developed as the European transmission standard for HDTV services based on those criteria of compatibility and evolution and D2-MAC offers the best available path towards the development of HDTYV with wide-screen 16 : 9 D2-MAC as the main step in that direction ; Whereas there is a need to establish common standards for satellite transmission as an enabling element for effec- tive free-market competition, taking into account the fact that standards promote competitiveness by lowering costs for producers, shaping customer preferences for products by their familiarity and giving rise to the emergence of new markets, particularly for developing technologies, where they are becoming a pre-condition for industrial production or marketing ; Whereas services for satellite television broadcasting using 4:3 aspect ratio format should not be forced to a compulsory stop or change so as not to jeopardize the present market or inconvenience users ; whereas, however, incentives may be provided, through a parallel legal instrument, in order to support, in addition, the use of the D2-MAC standard, in particular in 16:9 format, inter alia through simultaneous transmissions (‘simulcast’); Whereas it is important that, from a certain date on, new services, that is to say services that are not extensions of existing services, will transmit in the D2-MAC norm ;