Telecoms: Commission launches infringement case against Romania over independence of regulator

The Romanian government's decision in 2008 first to remove the President of the national telecoms regulator and then, after a court ruling suspending this decision, to restructure and rename this authority represented, in the view of the European Commission, a serious violation of the regulator's independence. Following repeated warnings, the Commission opened an infringement proceeding against Romania by sending a letter of formal notice under Article 226 of the EC Treaty to the Romanian government. EU Telecoms Commissioner Reding spoke yesterday morning on the phone with the recently appointed Romanian Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Gabriel Sandu, – who had inherited this issue from the previous government – to discuss how the current illegality of the legislation in Romania could be changed in conformity with the letter and the spirit of EU law.