International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) President Don Beattie, G3BJ, and European Radio Amateurs’ Organization (EURAO) President Petrica Stolnicu, YO9RIJ, met on December 2. The meeting was held against a background that both IARU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Northern Asia) and EURAO have letters of understanding with European regulator CEPT, enabling their participation in the work of CEPT. Also present were IARU Region 1 Spectrum and Regulatory Liaison Committee chair Dave Court, EI3IO, and the Secretary-General of the EURAO Regulatory Liaison Committee, Joan-Carles Samaranch, EA3CIW.

According to a joint IARU Region 1/EURAO news release, the meeting was held “to explore areas of common interest, recognizing in particular the desire of CEPT for representative organizations to present a common Amateur Radio Service position.” The joint news release said the two organizations “exchanged views on their priorities for the Amateur Radio service, after which a more detailed discussion took place on the ways in which they might cooperate in the interest of the future of Amateur Radio.”

“Both organizations accepted that they had shared objectives, identified some specific areas for interworking, and will continue a constructive dialogue into the future,” the organizations said.

Over the past year tensions between IARU R1 and EURAO spilled over into the public arena regarding arrangements for the two organizations to meet. After a brief discussion last June at the Friedrichshafen, Germany, Ham Radio event, EURAO and IARU R1 agreed to the December meeting.

With a motto of “A global open Amateur Radio community,” EURAO was established in 2005 as a clearing house for independent Amateur Radio organizations, primarily in Europe. It is headquartered in France. EURAO has stated its interest in lobbying public administrations, while the IARU has said that part of its focus is to “interact with the agencies responsible for regulating and allocating radio frequencies.”

The IARU is a federation of national Amateur Radio associations representing more than 150 countries and separate territories around the world, about 90 of them in IARU Region 1.