Romanian Senate Rejects Telecom Watchdog Setup

Following the senators’ vote, the Communications Ministry is compelled to issue a new act to set up a telecom regulator in accordance with European standards, secretary of Senate’s economic committee, Serban Mihailescu said.

 

Last week, the European Commission decided to launch an infringement procedure against Romania for breaching EU rules regarding the independence of its national telecom regulator.

 

The Commission decided to refer Romania to the European Court of Justice.

 

The Commission said in its release that the Romanian government's decision in 2008 first to remove the President of the national telecoms regulator and then, after a court ruling suspending this decision, to restructure and rename this authority represents, in the view of the European Commission, a serious violation of the regulator's independence.

 

Following repeated warnings, the Commission opened an infringement proceeding against Romania by sending a letter of formal notice under Article 226 of the EC Treaty to the Romanian government.