Press Release: Telecommunications: Commission takes France to court over universal service

The European Commission has decided to take France to the Court of Justice of the European Communities, since the country's national scheme for costing and financing universal service in telecommunications does not comply with the Community Directives. The decision to bring this action follows on from administrative proceedings under Article 226 of the EC Treaty. The administrative proceedings, while making significant progress on some fronts, failed to resolve all the difficulties. The law suit does not challenge the existence of universal service or the principle of a special financing scheme, but aims to ensure that the scheme in place does not impose an excessive financial burden on operators entering the market who are required to contribute to the universal service financing.