Telecoms in the European Union

Telecoms networks and services are the backbone of Europe’s developing information Society. Individuals, enterprises and public organisations alike have come to rely ever more on convenient, reliable telecoms networks and services.

To improve innovation and increase efficiency in the telecommunications sector, the European Union promotes increased competition through a series of regulatory rules.

Increased competition has brought new entrants into the telecoms sector throughout Europe and has forced incumbent providers to raise their standards of service and reduce their prices. However, much still remains to be done.

Reviewing the current regulatory framework

Since the last regulatory package was adopted in 2002, new developments in the telecoms sector have left the current regulatory framework in need of updating.

To take account of the changed sectoral landscape, the Commission launched a review of the current regulatory rules in November 2007. The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers reached an agreement on the EU Telecoms Reform proposed by the Commission in November 2007, on Wednesday 4 November 2009, after intense negotiations brokered by the European Commission, and debated in the legislative process since that time. The new rules were published on 18 December 2009.

On this website:

you will find all relevant material about EU telecoms regulation, including:

• the new rules;

• the current rules that continue to apply before the new Directives are transposed into national laws.