I refer to Mr Henri Piski’s letter which appeared in this newspaper on the 6th December entitled ‘Debating the new EU telecoms package’.
As explained by Mr Piski, the revision of the 2002 European Electronic Communications Framework, that is, the set of laws which currently regulate telephony, Internet and TV transmission networks and services across the EU, has been under discussion for the past two years. The revised laws are intended to improve the quality of life of European citizens by providing better regulation of these markets and the reinforcement of consumers’ rights.
In this regard, the Malta Communications Authority, which is the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) entrusted with the implementation of this framework in Malta, looks forward to the revised national legislation. Once this is adopted, as indicated by Mr Piski, local consumers of telecoms services will enjoy new rights and be better protected.
In his letter, Mr Piski also referred to the establishment of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), describing it as ‘a new pan-European regulator, equipped with veto powers over its national equivalents’.
The Authority feels that it is important to clarify that BEREC will not in any way replace the National Regulatory Authorities and will not have powers to veto decisions of national authorities.
This new entity will replace the current European Regulators Group (ERG) and will continue to be comprised of the Heads of the National Regulatory Authorities. The BEREC, like the current ERG, will be a forum for cooperation among NRAs, and between NRAs and the European Commission, in the exercise of their respective responsibilities under the EU regulatory framework. BEREC will fulfil this advisory function without replacing any of the existing functions of national authorities or duplicating work already being undertaken.
The BEREC will be supported by a new EU Agency called the Office of the BEREC which will be responsible for the day-to-day work of the BEREC. Decision making within the Office of the BEREC is formally entrusted collectively to the Heads of the National Regulatory Authorities.
With respect to veto powers, while there was a bid by the European Commission, for powers to enable it to veto NRAs’ decisions regarding obligations that may be imposed on market players found to have significant market power, the European Parliament and the Council did not accept this proposal by the Commission.
The European Commission’s veto powers under the revised framework, consequently, remain restricted to those agreed to in the 2002 framework, that is, to the identification of markets to be regulated and decisions to declare a market player as having significant market power.
The revised framework, on the other hand, obliges the European Commission to formally seek the views of the BEREC before exercising its veto powers. This new obligation on the European Commission is the result of a hard-fought battle which has been won by the National Regulatory Authorities. Indeed, all the EU National Regulatory Authorities, including the MCA, have long argued that the Group of Regulators, in its function as advisor to the European Commission, should be formally consulted before such decisions are taken by the Commission.
The legal framework which was adopted by the Council and European Parliament a few weeks ago will now require transposition into national law within 18 months. In Malta, this exercise has already begun and the new laws are expected to come into force as early as the beginning of 2011.
Mandy Calleja
Communications Coordinator
Malta Communications Authority
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