Le Parlement accueille fraîchement la révision des télécoms[en] 

The Telecoms and Internet review proposed by Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding on 13 November 2007 represents a complete reform of the electronic and telecommunications sector. 

The most significant proposals regard the introduction of a new European authority to serve as the Commission's main advisor on regulatory issues. The European authority is meant to cooperate with national regulators.

Commissioner Reding also proposed the adoption of functional separation, meaning that telecommunication operators that own important parts of the network infrastructure should split into two companies, in charge of operational business and network management respectively.

The reform also concerns the management of the spectrum to reallocate frequencies left free by the more economic digital broadcasting, which is replacing the analogue system.

Several elements of the plan have already been widely criticised by incumbents (such as Deutsche Telekom or France Telecom), national telecoms authorities and various member states (see EurActiv 09/01/08).

The first exchange of views on the reform carried out on Tuesday 29 January in the European Parliament confirmed the doubts over the project already raised by other actors.

The debate was held in the Industry Committee of the Parliament, which is responsible for the most relevant legislative proposals made by the Commission. It is in charge of analysing the amendments to the framework directive for electronic communications, which contains the bulk of the reform. The Committee also has its say on the new authority proposed by Reding.

The view expressed by the members of the Committee was generally critical towards the reform, regardless of the political affiliation of the MEPs. Representatives of the three main parties in the Parliament - the EPP, PES and ALDE - voiced concerns about the economic consequences of functional separation. "Who will pay the cost of the shift from the current system?," asked several MEPs.

Moreover, Committee members expressed doubts over the necessity of the new European regulator, considering it as a dangerous source of conflicts of competence with national authorities. The possible merger of the new body with the existing European agency for information security (ENISA) was also questioned.

In a study recently presented in the Industry Committee, the spectrum management reform was also criticised. "The proposals set out by the Commission meet some goals that will generally be beneficial for Europe, but there are some gaps," reads the report, which questions the market approach adopted by Reding for the reallocation and supports economic advantages stemming from a free spectrum.

"The telecoms industry is in general satisfied with the current legal framework", said Industry Committee Chair Angelika Niebler (EPP) during the hearing, underlining that "only a few adjustments are necessary".

"Who is guaranteeing the independence of the new agency?," asked Pilar del Castillo (EPP), who will draft the Parliament report on the proposal to establish the new European Authority.

Alexander Alvaro (ALDE) raised worries about "the gain in powers for the Commission that underlies all the proposals" - a position supported by Francisca Pleguezuelos (PES), who stressed the "break of balance with the member states". "Shifting more powers to the Commission will only cause more problems," she said.

Responding to these particular concerns, Fabio Colasanti, director general for Information Society and Media at the European Commission, repeated during the hearing that "some decisions have to be taken at EU level". On the unbundling proposal, he underlined that "functional separation tries to achieve an equivalence of access", and in any case "it is already possible under the present framework".