Greece Taken To Task Over Failure To Implement E-Com Directive

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

25 January 2006

The European Commission announced on Monday that it has sent a formal request to Greece seeking information concerning its compliance with the Court of Justice ruling of 14th April 2005.

The Court ruling confirmed that Greece had failed to implement the Electronic Communications Liberalisation Directive before the July 2003 deadline. The Commission has given Greece until 20th February to reply to the request, which takes the form of a ‘letter of formal notice’ under EC Treaty infringement procedures for failure to respect a Court ruling.

The key provision of the Directive, adopted on 16th September 2002, provides for the abolition of exclusive or special rights granted by the Member States for the establishment and/or the provision of electronic communications networks, or for the provision of publicly available electronic communications services.

In addition, the legislation extended the liberalisation principles of the previous Directives to all electronic communications services, including broadcasting services.

All Member States except Greece have implemented the Electronic Communications Liberalisation Directive.

The EC revealed that if Greece does not inform the Commission that it has taken action to comply with the Court ruling, the Commission may refer Greece to the ECJ for a second time and request the Court to impose fines.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes explained that:

“Greece must implement this long-overdue Directive immediately to ensure that Greek businesses and households are no longer denied the benefits enjoyed in other Member States in terms of lower priced and better quality fixed voice telephony and access to new broadband services”.

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