Much Still To Be Done In European Telecoms Liberalisation, Report Suggests

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

09 February 2006

Regular economic analysis by EU Member States and the European Commission of competition in electronic communications markets and Commission scrutiny of draft national rules are paving the way to free markets, regulated solely by competition law, according to a progress report published by the Commission on Tuesday.

Regulation in this sector applies only to operators whose significant market power could prevent the full benefits of telecoms liberalisation from getting through to consumers.

According to the EC: "Wherever a market analysis has found tangible signs of sustainable competition, regulation has been trimmed back or removed altogether. However, much remains to be done."

It went on to reveal that:

"As of 30 September 2005, sixteen EU Member States had found no effective competition on one or more of the 18 electronic communications markets defined by the EU and had taken steps to boost competition on the markets concerned."

"Five Member States had found only partial competition on one or more of these markets and had imposed remedies where it was lacking. But nine Member States had yet to notify the Commission of their analyses of any of the 18 markets."

“Regulatory consultation, consistency and transparency across the EU pave the way to a level playing field in electronic communications”, explained Information Society and media Commissioner Viviane Reding, adding that:

“Companies can be sure that a single set of rules is applied in a similar manner across the EU, thereby giving them the confidence to invest EU-wide. Ultimately, consumers will reap the benefits of choice in e-communication services and products and competitive pricing”.

The Commission report showed that in its first two years the Community consultation mechanism on the competitiveness of electronic communications markets helped to bring about more consistency, mainly with regard to where and when regulatory remedies are imposed on operators.

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