Meeting in Brussels on Friday 6 December for the last ‘Telecommunications’ Council of the year, the ministers of the EU27 officially approved the conclusions document on the future of European telecommunications, albeit with significantly lower ambitions than the original proposal.
As detailed earlier in this issue (see EUROPE 13539/11), the Member States are being very cautious and are showing a number of “disagreements” with the Commission.
While the Draghi report, which draws most of its recommendations from the Commission’s White Paper, advocates the creation of truly profitable pan-European operators in order to boost European competitiveness, the validated conclusions are somewhat cautious on this principle: the Member States are concerned about its “impact on the competition of national markets and operators who are not in a position to act on a pan-European scale”.
Spain, along with Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy, expressed their “satisfaction” with the “fair and balanced compromise” reached by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. But several countries made a point of reiterating their position in favour of respecting competition within the sector during the debate preceding approval of the conclusions.
For Denmark, the main question is whether consolidation or competition will encourage investment in the sector. “There are no other examples of areas where consolidation has boosted investment”, said Minister Caroline Stage Olsen, who was quickly joined by her Finnish counterpart: “The first step is to help develop digital infrastructures and ensure that they are managed effectively. Market regulation should only be based on an impact study”, insisted Marjo Lindgren.
A number of Member States called for this impact study during the round-table discussion, illustrating the lack of enthusiasm that a major reform of the sector provokes among the EU27. Slovenia and Latvia also asked the Commission to be “particularly attentive” to the “regional particularities” inherent in the sector before embarking on any reform.
The Vice-President of the Commission and Commissioner for digital issues, Henna Virkkunen, attempted to reconcile the visions of both parties, basing her argument on Mario Draghi’s report and the “need to think as Europeans” to “ensure our competitiveness and resilience”. “A navel-gazing solution doesn't stand a chance, we have to work hand in hand”, she defended.
The Finn also mentioned the Digital Networks Act, which she said she wanted to be “ambitious” and launched by 2025. However, the circumspection of the Member States is in danger of diverting the objectives of the Commission’s recommendations and of the ‘Draghi report’, which is presented as the technical compass for future European guidelines.
See the approved conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/enw (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)