Brussels, 05/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The EP's Committee on Industry examined during a public hearing last week the notion of "market power" as it would be included in European competition law by the framework directive on electronic communications networks and services proposed by the Commission. Experts put their points of view forward, and expressed divergent opinions on how useful the concept of "market power" is, which should not be confused with that of "dominant enterprise", and whose assessment criteria are important regarding the evolution of the telecommunications market. Professor Christian Kirchner, from Humboldt University (Berlin) objected to introducing this concept, noting that it was a source of confusion and likely to put a brake on market investment. Pierre Larouche, from the University of Maastricht, considered the notion could help to eliminate congestion on the market and that the use of sector-specific provisions gave added value to Community competition law, should an operator assure market power by controlling certain technical infrastructures. MEPs expressed their determination to ensure that the national authorities responsible for regulating the sector apply the directive in a uniform way in all Member States. In a press release, they warned that the Parliament and Council were to "avoid creating fifteen different telecommunications markets in Europe". The rapporteur on the framework directive is Reino Paasilinna, Finnish Social Democrat.