TELECOMMUNICATIONS : TELECOMS PACKAGE SHOULD BE LIMITED IN TIME, MEPS ARGUE.

• Position: Brief article

Some MEPs are starting to doubt the transitional nature of the regulatory framework for telecoms in the EU, given the proposal for the European telecoms authority. "In the interest of the sector," the telecommunications reform should include a sunset clause' automatically putting an end to the rules after a given period, said Andras Gyurk (EPP-ED, Hungary), at a public hearing of the European Parliament's Industry Committee, on 27 February in Brussels.

"Eleven regulations out of 18 have been abolished because competition was working well enough," replied Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding. Her priority is to regulate access to networks. "Eighty percent of access to the fixed network is in the hands of the incumbent operators. We have not succeeded in achieving total competition in infrastructure and each mobile operator has a monopoly over its own...