Monday, January 28, 2008

Europe - independence of regulators

EU to act vs. Poland and Luxembourg over telcos
see also official announcement

The European Commission is set to take Poland to the European Union's top court for not ensuring its national telecoms regulator is free of government pressure, an EU source said on Monday.

"Poland will be taken to the European Court of Justice over the lack of telecoms regulatory independence," the source said.

At the same time, Luxembourg will be sent an initial warning for not ensuring its domestic telecoms regulator is independent of the Grand Duchy's government, the source who is familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The EU's executive arm is due to sign off on the steps on Thursday as part of a monthly round of infringement proceedings against states that break the bloc's laws.

Under EU rules, national telecoms watchdogs must be independent of governments so they can enforce competition in their markets and face down pressure from powerful incumbents or former state-owned national monopoly operators.

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