EU lawmakers eye deal on diluting telecoms package
By Huw Jones
STRASBOURG, France, April 23 (Reuters) - Most measures to make the European Union's telecoms market more competitive and beef up consumer rights have found cross-party support in the bloc's parliament, senior lawmakers said on Wednesday.
A multi-party deal is emerging to dilute the core aspects of the measures, proposed by EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding, said three European Parliament members steering the plans through the assembly.
The assembly and EU governments have the final say on the measures.
"We can give today three main reports with opinions which are a very good basis for a bridge between all committees and political groups," Catherine Trautmann, a French socialist member of the assembly, told a news conference.
"We absolutely want this package to be decided on before the end of the term of this parliament," Trautmann added.
Parliament goes into recess next April for June elections.
"The cross-party agreements on the main points ... are there. That can be absolutely confirmed regarding the main issues. We still have some discussion on small things," said Pilar del Castillo, a Spanish centre-right member.
Malcolm Harbour, a British centre-right member, said a consensus was emerging on most points in the package but how radio frequencies should be handled remained an issue.
"In spectrum, there will be a lot of debate about the balance between country control and harmonisation," he said.
The reports need to be adopted by committee and full parliament and would signal key changes to Reding's proposals.
-- Her proposal for a new European electronic communications authority will be downgraded to a body on European regulators in telecoms (BERT). Castillo said the original proposal took too many powers away from EU states and would be too bureaucratic.
-- A proposal for the European Commission to have a veto on a national regulator's actions it deemed insufficient will be scrapped. This will be replaced by joint decision-making with a mediation process where BERT and the Commission disagree.
-- Reding's proposal to let national regulators split telecoms groups into separate business units to give competitors easier network access, a move known as functional separation, remains largely intact but such a step could be taken only after thorough studies, Trautmann said.
-- Lawmakers will introduce a proviso that there must be the right balance or "fair risk sharing" between a proper return on investment and an obligation to open newly built next-generation networks to competitors.
Michael Bartholomew, director of ETNO, which represents former state-owned operators such as Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) and France Telecom (FTE.PA), gave a mixed welcome.
"By placing the next-generation networks and the risky investment they entail at the top of the review agenda, Mrs Trautmann's report already represents a significant shift from the initial Commission proposals," Bartholomew said in a statement.
"However, ETNO remains convinced that functional separation is not appropriate for today's market and could act as deterrent to investment and that a sunset or review clause is necessary to achieve the transition towards competition law," he added. (Editing by Dale Hudson)
