EC Sends Romania 2nd Letter Of Notice Over Telecom Regulator’s Independence

Romanian authorities have two months to reply to the European Commission's request for information.

"If the Romanian authorities fail to satisfy the Commission's concerns within this period, the Commission may send Romania a formal request, in the form of a reasoned opinion under infringement procedures, to amend its legislation so as to guarantee the independence of the telecoms regulator in accordance with EU telecoms rules," the release states.

The European Commission triggered two infringement cases on Romania last year, in January and October.

The first case, which involves the request for information sent Wednesday, refers to the absence of a stable legislative framework which guarantees the independence of its national regulatory authority and the fact that the regulator's position is largely dependent on the Government which can adopt, and has adopted in the past, various emergency ordinances restructuring it.

The case triggered in October is also related to the independence of the telecoms regulator and concerns structural separation of public bodies supervising telecoms operators and those providing telecoms services.

The Commission had expressed its concerns about the independence of the Romanian telecoms regulator in a first letter of formal notice on January 29, 2009, following a government emergency decree of September 2008 which restructured the regulator and dismissed its president.

These actions were carried out despite a court order suspending the removal decision. The Romanian telecoms regulator has been restructured by the Government four times by way of emergency legislation in the past five years, whilst a governmental department exercises ownership and control activities in companies providing telecoms networks and/or services, the European Commissions aid in its release.

In April 2009, the Romanian authorities informed the Commission that the Government had adopted a new emergency decree reorganizing the telecoms regulator as the National Regulatory and Administration Authority for Communications - ANCOM.

However, the Commission said, the act has not yet been approved by the national Parliament, which creates uncertainty around the regulator and leaves the independence of Romania's national regulatory authority open to question, which has prompted the Commission to send the second letter of formal notice.

The Romanian Government has called on the Parliament three times, most recently in February 2010, to speed up the adoption of the law setting up telecom regulator.

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