On Thursday 8 November, the European Commission brought an action before the European Court of Justice against Portugal on the grounds that the extraordinary compensation claimed from Portuguese telecommunications operators does not comply with the Directive (2002/22) on the provision of universal service.
This Directive allows Member States to put in place mechanisms to compensate for the costs of providing universal service that are not always cost-effective. In Portugal, the authorities have asked operators to make an "extraordinary contribution for three consecutive years" to finance the net cost of universal service incurred in the past.
However, for the Commission, such a request is contrary to Union law. More specifically, it would not comply with the requirements of transparency, non-discrimination and minimum market distortion set by the Universal Service Directive in force in the EU since 2002 (Article 13 and Annex IV, Part B). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)