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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 9195
Contents Publication in full By article 11 / 43
GENERAL NEWS / (eu) eu/telecommunications

Commission concern over German draft law

Brussels, 18/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - Reuters indicated that on Wednesday the European Commission gave awarned that it would begin proceedings against Germany if the Bundestag approved a draft law protecting Germany's traditional Deutsche Telekom operator from competition from a new high speed network. Viviane Reding the European Commissioner for Information Society and the Media declared, “If the German Parliament supports the draft Governmental law, I will be determined to begin infringement proceedings against Germany…We cannot allow ourselves to create new monopolies on questions of short term political opportunism”. The German government finalised a draft law on Wednesday that it sent to Parliament for approval in the hope of its entry into force by the end of the year. This law would exempt Deutsche Telekom's new very high speed internet access network from European directives on telecommunications aiming to open the sector up to competition. The Commission already expressed its concerns on this subject in March to the German Secretary for Economic Affairs, Joachim Würmeling, (EUROPE 9150). According to remarks made by a spokesperson for the Minister of the Economy, Germany remains convinced that this law does not infringe European rules in the least.

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