Commission pursues Germany over telecoms law[fr][de] 

Commission spokesperson Martin Selmayr told journalists on 26 February 2007 that a letter of "formal notice" had been sent to Berlin and that the EU intends to take the case to the European court of justice (ECJ). According to the Commission, the case is being fast-tracked and Germany will only have 15 days to reply to this letter.

Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "The granting of regulatory holidays to incumbent operators is an attempt to stifle competition in a crucial sector of the economy, and in violation of the EU telecom rules in place since 2002."

The Commission argues that the German telecom law, which just entered into force, "would effectively exempt Deutsche Telekom AG’s fast internet access network VDSL from competition". Reding said that Germany passed the law despite several warnings from the Commission.

Germany argues that the new high-speed internet network, to be set up by Deutsche Telekom, could only be profitable if it was exempt from use by other rivals. But the Commission says the arrangement is unfair and needs to be opened up to competition. 

German Economic Ministry Secretary of State Bernd Pfaffenbach said "there can be no talk of 'regulatory holidays'" and that the German government believes that the telecom law is in line with EU rules.