Wide Differences on Key Issues Prompt Talk of EU Blockage On Telecom Rules Overhaul
There’s disagreement on whether plans to overhaul Europe’s e-communications rules have stalled. Reports late Thursday that the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers led by the Czech Presidency failed to reach agreement at their “trialogue” -- and that the regulatory package probably won’t be finished before parliamentary elections in June -- brought conflicting statements from the three bodies. The Czech government is getting heat for not securing consensus. The presidency, however, told us that while compromise won’t be easy, it’s still possible before parliament ends.
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Some ministers still don’t see the importance of a single market for telecom regulation and believe building national markets “is the answer,” Dow Jones quoted Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding as saying Thursday. The reports of an impasse are “rather accurate,” her spokesman told us. An industry official, however, said the EC’s statements may simply be a tactical move to put pressure on the presidency to ensure governments move toward the EC position.
The tri-party talks got off to a slow start but the idea that negotiations have broken down is wrong, said European Parliament member Malcolm Harbour, European People’s Party/European Democrats, U.K., who wrote the legislative report on EC-proposed changes to universal service and consumer protection requirements. He and the authors of the other two reports on proposed revisions had worried that talks weren’t going anywhere, but now believe the Presidency and national governments share lawmakers’ goal of reaching agreement by the end of April, he said in an interview. They're making substantial progress on outstanding issues, and should be able to deal with the most contentious ones at this week’s talks in Strasbourg, he said.
The Presidency was blamed for “sabotaging” the deal by failing to unite different viewpoints, and by sticking to the same negotiating position, Dow Jones reported. Harbour said his impression was that the Presidency doesn’t recognize the urgency of the task given the “telescoped” time scale.
But a Presidency spokesman said its approach is based on the negotiating mandate set in December by telecommunications ministers. The talks are “very challenging,” he said, because it’s “necessary to go step by step through a complex dossier, while taking into account different positions that each of the bodies involved in the trialogue maintain.” Still, he said, finishing the telecom package is one of his country’s priorities, and it’s still possible before parliament ends.
Several controversial issues remain in play. The main one is finding the “right balance” between the new regulatory body sought to be created and the EC in harmonizing competition conditions set by national authorities, Reding’s spokesman said. A second issue splitting lawmakers and governments is how much say the EU should have in spectrum management, the industry official said.
A difficult issue for Harbour revolves around a proposal for notification of breaches involving personal data, he said. The EC and Council’s common position supports having e-communications firms, but not providers of online services such as banks, notify consumers and national authorities of privacy breaches when they deem the violations serious. Harbour said he wants to ensure the law meets consumer expectations about personal information inadvertently released by non-telecom companies as well.
Another key area of disagreement between the institutions has been whether to follow a “pro-competitive or protectionist policy” on next-generation access networks, said European Competitive Telecommunications Association Regulatory Affairs Director Ilsa Godlovitch. Dominant telecom companies have been “blackmailing” policy-makers with the argument that they won’t invest in high-speed fiber networks unless competition rules are relaxed -- even though some are showing a profit, she said .
Parliament is currently backing changes “inspired by dominant firms which would allow them to price rivals out of the market,” Godlovitch said. ECTA doubts this will sit well with consumers preparing to vote in upcoming European elections, she added
Timing is critical, the industry official said. The industry committee is preparing its response to the Council’s common position, he said. The final trialogue takes place March 10 and amendments are due the next day for an end-of March committee vote, the official said. The plan is for the full parliament to vote on the package at the end of April and telecom ministers to adopt the final agreement in June, the official said. If governments and lawmakers continue to disagree, however, negotiators will have to go to back to the table, he said.
The Council floated new text March 5, Harbour said. Governments seem to be aligning more closely with parliament’s position, but so far the two sides haven’t engaged in detail on the issues, he said. Harbour said he’s confident those talks will take place.