TELECOMMUNICATIONS: FRANCE RESPONDS TO COMMISSION'S CONCERNS OVER ART POWERS.

• Position: Brief Article

oWe wish firstly to assure you that we share fully the European Unions objectives in the area of telecommunications,o said economy minister Francis Mer and the deputy minister for industry, Nicole Fontaine, in their letter. oWe are determined to transpose faithfully and transparently the different Directives regarding the sector,o they added.

Messrs Monti and Likanen, responsible for Competition and the Information Society respectively, wrote to France to remind the government that European legislation gives the competent national authorities regulatory powers over markets which are deemed to be insufficiently competitive. This exchange between Paris and the Commission arose when the French national assembly, at the second reading of the bill on the digital economy, weakened the powers wielded by the ART over France Telecom tariffs. The two French ministers made clear their surprise at the timing of the Commission's remarks. oThe French governments...