Ofcom’s Ed Richards: EU telecoms maximum harmonisation = Max Harm
A little drama unfolding in the Europe-Ofcom relationship, courtesy of the FT:
‘Viviane Reding, the European commissioner responsÂible for telecoms, is due to publish her plan to reform the EU telecoms framework next month, but a draft proposal circulating in Brussels has already sparked divisions inside the Commission.
As well as the proposal for veto powers, the draft outlined ideas for a pan-European telecoms regulator to act as an advisory body to the Commission.’
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The FT also runs a related op-ed piece by Ed Richards. After outlining four conditions for European telecoms success, Richards states:
‘Finally, it must strike the right balance between promoting consistency and harmonisation in European regulation and the need to reflect varying conditions in national markets.
This is where the Commission’s reported proposals give cause for concern. The Commission, it is said, favours a significant increase in its own powers to determine national regulatory remedies, supported by a new EU-funded super-regulator.
… The European Regulators’ Group has done much to improve the quality of regulation already. It has developed common positions on areas such as next-generation broadband, voice-over-internet protocol and international mobile roaming charges. It has also worked closely with the Commission in identifying and correcting errors by national regulators. Perhaps most important of all, the ERG operates under the governance of national regulators and is therefore independent from political influence.
The Commission’s proposed EU-level regulatory agency, by contrast, with a staff in excess of 100, is expected to be subject to supervision by member states and by the Commission. There is a real risk that proposals designed to reinforce independent regulation at the national level will be undermined at the European level.’
My take: Richards makes sense here. What is wrong with the continued reliance on the ERG? When Ofcom interviewed Peter Luff MP on this issue back in June 2007, it seemed as if politicians could rightly be of two minds about the issue: (i) favouring neoliberal policies at the European level that would benefit UK firms that compete or seek to compete in Europe; and (ii) somewhat distrustful of new EU structures.
Stay tuned…
Quite a public gambit by Ofcom – be interesting to see if theres any response from Reding & Co. Personally not sure whether the market authority is a bargaining chip in the Commission’s hand or whether they are that keen on having the thing…
[...] Ofcomwatch posted a comment on the recent EC proposals on reforming the framework for EU telecommunications (analysis here). The current framework works quite well, but the idea is to improve it, enable it to face new challenges and to assist the EU telecoms industry in competing on the global market. Viviane Reding (the information society commissioner) contemplates setting up of an EU regulatory body to oversee national regulators in this area. [...]
[...] This is a power struggle and it could get a bit spicy. It might even be fun to watch two outspoken personalities such as Ed Richards and Viviane Reding slug it out – it certainly started that way. The European Commission has publicly questioned whether the UK’s top telecoms regulator has any idea what he’s talking about when it comes to, er, telecoms regulation. [...]