TELECOMMUNICATIONS : TELECOMS PACKAGE: EP DREADS CENTRALISATION OF POWERS.

PositionEuropean telecommunications industry

On the occasion of a debate on the revision of European telecoms rules on 30 January, there was growing concern amongst MEPs regarding the European Commission's possible attempts to centralise telecom powers. Their main concerns are the creation of a European authority and the extension of the Commission's powers over solutions applied by national telecoms authorities in case of competition problems.

"The telecoms industry is, in general, satisfied with the current regulatory framework", stressed Angelika Niebler (EPP-ED, Germany), believing that only "a few adjustments are necessary [ ] because the market as a whole is developing well".

TOO MANY EUROPEAN POWERS?

"Certain decisions must be made at European level," responded the Director-General of the Commission's DG Information Society, Fabio Colasanti. For him, the only major change is the extension of the Commission's powers. Today, the Commission only has the right to consult solutions proposed by national regulators. The senior civil servant repeated the key argument of Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding, who is responsible for this dossier: the current situation - an incomplete internal market - is due to incoherence between the national markets. In other words, national regulators apply different solutions to similar competition problems.

With this new package, the Commission could reject a solution and impose another one, with the technical assistance of the European authority. Beyond greater cooperation between national regulators "the authority will do several things, for example, in terms of technical assistance, cooperation with third world countries or information on the use of radiofrequencies," said Colasanti.

"Who will guarantee the independence of the new agency," asked Pilar del Castillo (EPP-ED, Spain), who is responsible for the report on the proposal for a regulation establishing the European telecommunication authority. "How is the Commission going to manage the potential conflicts between national regulators and the European agency?" asked Catherine...

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