Competition: Commission requests information from Greece on compliance with Court ruling on electronic communications liberalisation Directive - Main contents

The European Commission has sent a formal request to Greece requesting information concerning its compliance with the Court of Justice ruling of 14th April 2005. The Court ruling confirmed that Greece had failed to implement within the deadline the electronic communications liberalisation Directive 2002/77/EC.

The Commission has given Greece until 20th February to reply to the request, which takes the form of a `letter of formal notice' under EC Treaty infringement procedures for failure to respect a Court ruling (Article 228 i). If Greece does not inform the Commission that it has complied with the Court ruling, the Commission may refer Greece to the Court for a second time and request the Court to impose fines on Greece (periodic penalty payments, lump sums or both - see MEMO/05/482).

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes i commented, "Greece must implement this long-overdue Directive immediately to ensure that Greek businesses and households are no longer denied the benefits enjoyed in other Member States in terms of lower priced and better quality fixed voice telephony and access to new broadband services".

All Member States except Greece have implemented the electronic communications liberalisation Directive. Effective liberalisation of electronic communications improves competition and benefits consumers in terms of service quality. The fact that this Directive has not been implemented in Greece contributes to the low level of competition in the fixed voice telephony market and the low penetration of broadband services in Greece. In October 2005, the penetration of retail broadband in Greece was the lowest among the EU 15 Member States (around 1%).

Directive 2002/77/EC, adopted on 16th September 2002, simplifies and consolidates the dispositions of previous Directives adopted under Article 86-3 of the EC Treaty i that have progressively liberalised telecommunications markets in the European Union. The key provision of the Directive provides for the abolition of exclusive or special rights granted by the Member States for the establishment and/or the provision of electronic communications networks, or for the provision of publicly available electronic communications services. Before 24 July 2003, each Member State was due to take the necessary measures to guarantee each undertaking the right to provide services or exploit networks, without discrimination, in accordance with a general authorisation regime which replaces the previous licensing system.

Moreover, Directive 2002/77/EC also extended the liberalisation principles of the previous Directives to all electronic communications services, including broadcasting services. Effective implementation of the Directive is therefore crucial to allow new competitors to enter the market for the provision of such services, and in particular for digital terrestrial broadcasting.

The deadline for Member States to provide information to allow the Commission to confirm that the provisions of Directive 2002/77/EC had been complied with was 24th July 2003. As Greece did not do so, the Commission referred Greece to the Court of Justice and on 14th April 2005, the Court of Justice confirmed that Greece had failed to fulfil its obligation to implement the Directive.

Since the Court ruling Greece has not notified any implementing measures to the Commission.