The European Commission is trying to gain power over telecom by s...

agency to deal with spectrum management, network security at the EU level and related technical issues, but plans by Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding for a European Telecom Market Agency “go beyond this,” said Paul Champsaur, chair of the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Communications and Post. The new agency would remake the relationship between EU nations and the EC, he said, noting that the EU isn’t a federal state. Instead it functions through close cooperation among nations and EU institutions, he said. Champsaur said the EC ignored opportunities to use European Regulators Group expertise and failed to offer guidance on high-speed broadband, the distortion of competition between fixed and mobile telephony and other basic issues. The EC moved to harmonize international mobile roaming rates only when pressed by regulators, he said. Harmonization is needed, but only if regulators work under the EC, which should take the lead on major matters and make the final decisions, Champsaur said. All in all, Reding’s move to change Europe’s e-communications regulatory framework is “totally unhelpful,” he said. National regulators restated their opposition in a Nov. 6 letter to Reding, saying the ERG already had declared that it doesn’t favor “creation either of a new Commission veto on remedies or new layers of unnecessary centralism.” European Parliament members also fear a power grab, EurActiv reported. German MEP Angelika Niebler, chair of the Industry Committee, said details of the new authority need clarification, particularly regarding the EC’s plans for a gradual extension of the commission’s power. U.K. MEP Malcolm Harbour said Reding’s legislative package builds on the success of EU communications rules and tackles issues that lawmakers have demanded action on -- but the EC “has got carried away with big ideas of building a new power base, instead of leaving local regulators to get on with the job.” Lawmakers will demand answers about ETMA’s costs and benefits, he warned.