The parliament votes on the Draft 2009 Regulatory Framework

The European Parliament voted today on the 2009 Telecommunications Regulatory Framework in its plenary session. The text of the Directive and Regulation is available here. The Commission reacted positivly to the vote in its press release.

Accordingly, the inititial proposals submitted by the Commission are now substantially modified.

The main changes are the following:

1. The European Electrionic Communications Market Authority is now becoming the Body of European Regulators in Telecommunications ("BERT"). It will be financed partly from the EU budget and be composed 1/2 by NRAs delegates and 1/2 by self appointed agent. Although the Commission keeps on qualifying the BERT as a regulator, it remains to be seen whether the BERT would have the power of a regulator, i.e., the power to make market analysis and impose remedies.

2. The inititial extension of the Commission power to veto remedies, impose specific remedies at national level, and analyse transnational markets seems to have been deleted from the proposals. It is only if the BERT considers the remedy to be inappropriate or ineffective that the Commission may require the national regulatory authority to withdraw or amend it.

3. Functional separation is still added in regulator's remedy toolbox but will remain a ultimate ressort remedy. It could only be adopted if both the Commission and BERT confirm that any other measure has failed to achieve effective competition and that there is little prospect of future infrastructure-based competition.

4. Universal service: The Parliament wants the Commission by autumn 2008 to submit plans to include mobile phone and broadband in the scope of universal service rules