Brussels, 23/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice for failure to fully comply with the Court's ruling of 14 April 2005, which confirmed that Greece had failed to implement the electronic communications Competition Directive (2002/77/EC).
Under Directive 2002/27, member states had to inform the Commission by 24 July 2003 of measures taken to ensure competition in the markets for electronic communications networks, including broadcasting transmission services. Having received no notification from Greece, the Commission referred the country to the Court of Justice, which ruled on 14 April 2005 that Greece had failed to respect the deadline.
In recent communications, the Greek authorities confirmed that they had introduced suitable measures in all areas of electronic communication apart from broadcasting where, according to the most recent letter (13 March 2007) fair competition has still not been guaranteed under Greek law, two years after the Court of Justice ruling. After a final letter of formal notice in April last year and a reasoned opinion in December, the Commission decided to take the case back to the European Court of Justice, this time under the infringement proceedings stipulated in the EC Treaty for failing to respect Court of Justice rulings (Article 228).
The Commission is requesting that the Court impose fines, consisting of both a daily lump sum of €6132 penalising Greece for continuation of the infringement between the Court's April 2005 ruling and the second Court ruling (or alternatively until Greece complies, if it does so before the second Court ruling), plus a daily penalty of €42310.80 starting on the date of the second judgement until full compliance (if Greece has still not complied by the second Court ruling). (cd)