Under Article 80 of the Act of 21 March 1991 a Consultative Committee on telecommunications was created within the Institute. Since Article 3 of the Act of 17 January 2003 has come into force, the Consultative Committee has been incorporated into the Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy. The Institute bears the Committee's operational costs and also continues to perform its secretarial work. The Committee renders, either on its own initiative or at the request of the competent minister or of the Institute, recommendations on any matter relating to telecommunications. Furthermore, the Committee gives recommendations on the activities of the Institute and also on certain aspects of the universal service.