EU Takes Court Action Against Luxembourg Over Telecoms Rules

Ulrika Lomas, Tax-news.com, Brussels

14 March 2001

The European Commission has taken Luxembourg to the European Court of Justice for an infringement over rights of way in the country's telecommunications sector.

The 1996 'full competition' Directive which provides for the granting of such rights of way on a non-discriminatory basis was transposed into Luxembourg law but was not enforced in practice due to the provisions being hindered by internal legal and practical hurdles. Telecoms operators new to the country complain that they have come up against a number of difficulties when deploying their networks.

In a press release the Commission stated that it has received information from telecom operators who name Luxembourg's publicly owned EPT company as a major perpetrator in preventing them from securing rights of way in the public domain. Together with bureaucratic obstacles, the result is in effect to deny entry to new applicants, contrary to Community law.

The Commission said: 'In the absence of rights of way, these operators cannot deploy their networks and remain compelled either to lease lines on the network of the incumbent operator, or simply to postpone operating despite holding a licence. EPT therefore retains a kind of de facto monopoly over the provision of telecommunications infrastructure.'

The Commission says it has been warning Luxembourg of its infringement since July last year when a telecoms operator, Coditel, lodged the first complaint. Thus, the Commission is led to conclude that 'the provisions in Community law with regard to rights of way are not duly implemented by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, despite an apparent transposition by Articles 34 and 35 of the Act on telecommunications of 21 March 1997.'

Recommended