Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-30-Speech-3-224"
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"en.20051130.20.3-224"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the debate we are about to have this evening takes its context from the next review of the regulatory framework.
The Commission report describes a situation that varies greatly from country to country, and that constitutes a weak point in a market that is truly integrated at a European level.
The directives are poorly applied everywhere, and, where they are, the bodies needed for them – the National Regulatory Authorities – have not always even been established. We must be aware therefore that there is still a great deal to be done as regards implementing the current regulatory framework before we change it.
This is an important point, Mr President, because it is impossible to implement this legislation, which requires flexibility and often
intervention to prevent dominant positions in the market, without the system as a whole working. It is difficult to bring in
legislation if all the operators have not done their part beforehand in intervening at an institutional level to guarantee market transparency.
In our report, after the consideration of Parliament, we suggest various points: first of all it is necessary – and I say this strongly to the Commission – to open a debate on the whole institutional set-up. It is necessary to strengthen the role of the Commission, to clarify and precisely define the role of the European regulators and to ask the Member States, whilst also involving Parliament, to guarantee the establishment of authorities that are genuinely independent and authoritative, as well as capable and in a position to work in a tireless and entirely transparent way, which is essential. I propose, moreover, a task for the Commission: why not create, through the new regulatory framework, a European regulatory authority?
Beyond this clearer definition of the various institutions and their competences and duties, we need the involvement of Parliament. We ask the Commission to draw up, at regular intervals, a report that provides, for the Commission as well, the clearest possible analysis of all the operators’ billing parameters as well as contract guarantees and price trends, in order to keep Parliament informed and provide it with a more front-line role.
We wish for greater opening up of the operator sector: whilst we welcome the increase in unbundled local loops, we think more should be done to allow further opening up and the entry of new operators. We have seen that investment comes from established operators but some also comes from new operators.
I conclude with the central importance of the user and the consumer. The question of roaming is crucial: we appreciate what the Commission and the European Regulators Group are doing but we ask for something more, which appears in our document to the Commission specifically on roaming. Finally, reducing the digital divide also means increasing the number of users, including among Europe’s elderly and disabled. I finish by welcoming the voluntary codes to protect users ...
It is therefore necessary to ask if this framework has worked, if and how it has been applied, if it has been in a position to promote a genuinely open, competitive and transparent market for all operators and if it has been able, at the same time, to promote the necessary investment.
Given that we need to provide for an updating of the regulatory framework, we have to ask along what lines this should happen. In other words, we need to ask if we should give greater freedom to operators – as certain people wish, especially for the new markets – or instead maintain the regulated services. These are the questions we must do our best to answer when we set about reviewing the regulatory framework.
Following on from the debate in committee, I would like to highlight certain priorities myself.
First of all, this sector is a driving force behind the development of the European economy, both according to Lisbon and because telecommunications are the cornerstone of any economy based on knowledge, innovation and research. Telecommunications technologies act as a stimulus for productive innovation and a catalyst for the productivity of labour.
We need, therefore, to focus upon this strategic, high-investment sector – given that it requires infrastructure, research and constant innovation – and create a market for it that is open to new operators, with the widest possible choice for consumers and with the principle of access to networks as a key feature.
At the same time, however, we must avoid penalising operators that are already securely entrenched in the market, and we must effectively compete with the giants of the markets outside Europe.
This is a market characterised by constantly evolving technologies – I refer to broadband, third-generation telephones, voice, image and data convergence, and the new market of voice over Internet protocol services – and these innovations need to be sustained and encouraged.
Having said all this, I turn to how this is being applied in practice."@en1
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