On 18 June the European Commission launched a public consultation on its draft Recommendation on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector. The consultation is open until 19 July 2002 and the Commission is also organising a public hearing on this issue to take place in Brussels on 3 July 2002.
The Recommendation forms part of the new regulatory framework for electronic communications, which consists of five Directives which will come into force on 25 July 2003:
- Framework Directive
- Authorisation Directive
- Access Directive
- Universal service Directive
- E-communications privacy Directive
The aim of the new regulatory framework is to establish a harmonised regulatory framework for networks and services across the EU and to rely primarily on competition law analysis to decide which sectors require to be regulated.
Article 15(1) of the Framework Directive requires the Commission to adopt a Recommendation on Relevant Product and Service markets in which ex ante regulation may be warranted. The relevant markets are to be defined in accordance with the principles of competition law, taking into account issues such as demand and supply substitutability and barriers to entry. The aim is to ensure that the same product and service markets will be subject to a market analysis and that market players will be aware in advance of the markets to be analysed. It will only be possible for the national regulatory authorities to regulate markets which differ from those identified in the Recommendation where this is justified by national circumstances and where the Commission does not raise any objections in accordance with the procedure set out in the Framework Directive.
The Commission will adopt and publish a final Recommendation following the public consultation and its analysis. The Recommendation will be reviewed from time to time, depending on the speed of market developments, after consultation with the Member States and interested parties. The Commission will review the need for any update of the initial Recommendation no later than December 2004. The issue of whether mobile call termination will still need to be included will be decided in March 2003.
Please click here to access the consultation document.
The Annex (page 40) of the document lists the Commission’s proposed product and service markets to be examined by the national regulators.
© Herbert Smith 2002
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