Brussels, 20/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - The Socialist Group in the European Parliament last week held a public hearing on the reform of the Telecoms package, attended by Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. The commissioner presented the case for the changes made to the previous regulation, pointing out that the sector was still very fragmented and that there was still no single telecommunications market. This too great fragmentation had resulted in Europe occupying only the fourth place in the world market, when the aim was to be at the top, she said. Rejecting the argument that the Commission was strengthening its control over the sector, she said that the aim of the reform was to reduce the bottlenecks that remained, to encourage the developing market, to reduce administrative costs, to provide choices at reasonable prices for consumers and to provide broadband access for all. She also spoke about the three most controversial points of her reform: the pan-European telecoms authority, functional separation and radio spectrum management. “I want to create an agency for enjoyment,” she said, speaking about the European authority. She argued that the European Regulators Group (ERG) could not resolve cross-border issues: every National Regulatory Authority (NRA) takes measures to regulate its own market, but these could be at odds with measures taken by a neighbouring country. There had to be greater consistency, so European intervention was needed to make things move, she said, and she cited the example of the roaming regulation, a problem which NRAs had been unable to settle themselves. Reding said that functional separation was a further instrument in the NRAs' armoury, when all other action had been tried. With regard to the spectrum, “we simply want better management at national level,” she stressed. The Commissioner said she thought it necessary to bring together all those in charge in order to consider which route to take and where savings could be made. She gave the example of the United States which put its spectrum dividend up for auction, under strict monitoring conditions, in January. She said that we should keep a close eye on what our neighbours were doing.
Reino Paasilinna (PES, Finland), who chaired the hearing, congratulated Reding on her initiative on SMS and internet on the move roaming charges (a week earlier, the Commission had warned operators that it would regulate the sector if they did not reduce prices by 1 July, see EUROPE 9600). “Viviane Reding is on the right track. … Excessive data roaming prices are harmful for European consumers, private entrepreneurs and SMEs,” he said. “We will be behind the Commission if it wants to intervene. … Investors must get a fair return on their investment, but there are abuses,” said Robert Goebbels (PES, Luxembourg). Rapporteur on the telecoms framework directive Catherine Trautmann (PES, France) argued for a transparent, efficient and reliable process, which strikes the right balance between competition and investment. “The framework should allow operators to run a service that provides good service at a fair price for consumers throughout the EU,” she said. She went on to say that there would now be close scrutiny of the proposal, taking full account of the principle of subsidiarity. “The Commission cannot be judge and jury on the whole issue,” she stated. (I.L.)