EC gives last warning to Cyprus on mobile market

… refers Poland and Belgium to the European Court of Justice

 

 

The European Commission has decided to open new infringement proceedings against Cyprus concerning difficulties in obtaining rights of way for mobile operators while

Poland has also been sent a reasoned opinion for retaining broadband retail regulation without conducting the market analysis required under EU law.

The European Commission has also decided to refer two cases to the European Court of Justice against Poland.

“Independent regulators are the backbone of an efficient regulatory system and of fair regulation in the interests of competition and consumers. This is why the Commission cannot tolerate violations of the independence of national telecoms regulators required by EU law,” said Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner.

“I therefore regret that I have to refer Poland to the European Court of Justice for the continued lack of independence of the Polish telecoms regulator. Also the Luxembourg’s regulator will need to ensure that there is a clear division of responsibilities between regulatory and ownership functions – otherwise, we will also need to take Luxembourg to the European Court of Justice very soon. On the positive side, I note that Slovakia meanwhile has reacted to the Commission’s concerns and has amended its national legislation to ensure that the Slovak regulator is independent to perform its tasks efficiently. This is a change that will improve competition in Slovakia and ensure that telecoms customers in Slovakia will get a better deal in the future.”

As a result of decisions adopted by the Commission, Poland will now be taken to the European Court of Justice as legislative changes introduced in August 2006 still do not ensure the full independence of the Polish regulator, as required by European rules. The Polish government still controls significant shareholdings in a number of telecoms companies and the President of the Council of Ministers has unlimited discretion to dismiss the head of the national regulator therefore undermining its effectiveness.

Belgium is being taken to the Court of Justice concerning Universal Service. Problems related to the financial mechanism for social tariffs remain and concern the calculation of net costs and the unfair burden on operators in particular. Meanwhile, a case has been opened against Poland where legislation on consumer contracts has a wider scope than the provisions of the Universal Service Directive. The Universal Service Directive gives the right to subscribers to withdraw from their contracts, without penalty, in case of modifications made to their contracts.

The Commission was able to close proceedings against Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Latvia and Portugal since their first round of market analysis was considered complete. The case against Belgium concerning the must-carry regime for cable operators in the French speaking community was also closed since the relevant legislation was annulled by the Belgian constitutional court.