Memo: EU Telecoms Reform: the 6 Most Important Issues Still Open

On 2 September, 2008, the European Parliament debated, in plenary session, the so-called EU Telecoms Reform. On 13 November 2007, the European Commission had proposed to the European Parliament and the Council of Telecoms Ministers to reform the EU Telecoms rules (in place since 2003) to reinforce competition and investment and to create a Single Telecoms Market in the EU with innovative cross-border services and wireless high-speed broadband for all. Following an intense debate and many hearings, the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) and the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) voted on amendments on 7 July. The debate in the European Parliament's plenary with its 785 members was expected to pave the way for a vote on the Commission's entire EU Telecoms reform proposals in first reading on 23 September. Depending on the outcome of the vote and the discussions in the Council of Telecoms Ministers of 27 November, a political agreement on the final legislative texts could be achieved between the three institutions by the end of the year. The new regulatory framework would then become the law in all 27 EU Member States by 2010.

• Primary Source

European Commission: SPEECH/08/400: Towards a True Single Telecoms Market that Delivers in terms of Competition, Investment and Consumers http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/400&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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