Brussels, 6 December 2024. Following the meeting of EU telecom ministers today, ecta, the european competitive telecommunications association welcomes the Council Conclusions on the Commission’s White Paper entitled "How to master EU's digital infrastructure needs?” The Council Conclusions unequivocally reaffirm that fostering effective competition in European telecommunications markets is the key to boosting Europe’s competitiveness.
The Council Conclusions emphasize the importance of maintaining ex-ante regulation in electronic communications markets, to address a lack of effective competition as determined by National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs). The Council highlights the need for tailored approaches that consider Member States’ specific circumstances while ensuring regulatory predictability and alignment with existing measures like the European Electronic Communications Code. It also stresses that fostering competition remains essential for driving innovation, improving service quality, and enhancing consumer welfare.
Accordingly, the focus should be on reducing red tape — the administrative burdens currently faced by European telecom operators — rather than on eliminating ex-ante regulation through political mandates without robust technical justification from National Regulatory Authorities.
ecta is confident that the European Commission will take the Council Conclusions into utmost consideration in its forthcoming actions.
Luc Hindryckx, Director General of the european competitive telecommunications association said: “We particularly welcome that the Council Conclusions emphasize the importance of maintaining ex-ante regulation in electronic communications markets, grounded in the principle of addressing a lack of effective competition as determined by National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and that they stress that operators of all sizes should have business opportunities in the single market and be able to benefit from and contribute to effective competition.”
Download the ecta manifesto for the new commission a “Vision for an Innovative, Competitive, Inclusive, and Greener Europe” here
Download the full ecta contribution to the EC white paper here
Download the Council conclusions here
Download the press release in PDF here
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ecta members are united in their belief that an inclusive electronic communications sector, embracing a multitude of participants, both large and small, and nurturing a diverse array of products and services, is essential to empower the entire European economy and unleash its innovative potential in the digital realm. In other words, diversity in telecoms is essential to guarantee Europe’s Competitiveness. This is the key message that ecta and its members continuously promote.
| For further information on the contents of this press release and ecta’s positions, please contact:
Luc Hindryckx, Director General, +32 472 35 06 54 |
| ecta, the european competitive telecommunications association (www.ectaportal.com), represents those alternative operators who, relying on the pro-competitive EU legal framework that has created a free market for electronic communications, have helped overcome national monopolies to give EU citizens, businesses and public administrations quality and choice at affordable prices. ecta represents at large those operators who are driving the development of an accessible Gigabit society, who represent significant investments in fixed, mobile and fixed wireless access networks that qualify as Very High Capacity Networks and who demonstrate unique innovation capabilities. |
