Harmony or Disharmony in the Regulation of the Promotion of Competition in EU Telecommunications? A Survey of Regulatory Offices

As part of the movement towards harmonised trading relationships in Europe, the European Commission (EC) has introduced a series of policy reforms aimed at opening up European utility markets to competition. This paper is concerned with investigating the degree to which harmonisation is occurring in telecommunications policy. The study is based on a questionnaire sent to the regulator of telecommunications in each member state. Of the 15 member states, 13 regulatory offices agreed to participate in the study and completed the questionnaire. Also, they answered questions of clarification carried out by telephone, email and letter. The study identifies certain differences in the attitudes and policies adopted towards regulation of telecoms across the EU and in the promotion of competition