Directive 1996/19 - Amendment of Directive 90/388/EEC with regard to the implementation of full competition in telecommunications markets - Main contents

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Commission Directive 96/19/EC of 13 March 1996 amending Directive 90/388/EEC with regard to the implementation of full competition in telecommunications markets

Official Journal L 074 , 22/03/1996 P. 0013 - 0024

COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 96/19/EC of 13 March 1996 amending Directive 90/388/EEC with regard to the implementation of full competition in telecommunications markets

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 90 (3) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) 

  According to Commission Directive 90/388/EEC of 28 June 1990 on competition in the markets for telecommunications services (1), as last amended by Directive 96/2/EC (2), telecommunications services, with the exception of voice telephony to the general public and those services specifically excluded from the scope of that Directive, must be open to competition. These services were the telex service, mobile communications and radio and television broadcasting to the public. Satellite communications were included in the scope of the Directive through Commission Directive 94/46/EC (3). Cable television networks were included in the scope of the Directive through Commission Directive 95/51/EC (4), and mobile and personal communications were included in the scope of the Directive through Directive 96/2/EC. Under Directive 90/388/EEC, Member States must take the measures necessary to ensure that any operator is entitled to supply such services.

• (2) 

  Subsequent to the public consultation organized by the Commission in 1992 on the situation in the telecommunications sector (the 1992 Review), the Council, in its resolution of 22 July 1993 (5), unanimously called for the liberalization of all public voice telephony services by 1 January 1998, subject to additional transitional periods of up to five years to allow Member States with less developed networks, i.e. Spain, Ireland, Greece and Portugal, to achieve the necessary adjustments, in particular tariff adjustments. Moreover, very small networks should, according to the Council also be granted an adjustment period of up to two years where so justified. The Council subsequently unanimously recognized, in its resolution of 22 December 1994 (6), that the provision of telecommunications infrastructure should also be liberalized by 1 January 1998, subject to the same transitional periods as agreed for the liberalization of voice telephony. Furthermore, in its resolution of 18 September 1995 (7), the Council established basic guidelines for the future regulatory environment.

• (3) 

  Directive 90/388/EEC establishes that the granting of special or exclusive rights to telecommunications services to telecommunications organizations is in breach of Article 90 of the Treaty, in conjunction with Article 59 of the Treaty, since they limit the provision of cross-border services. As far as telecommunications services and networks are concerned such special rights were defined in that Directive.

According to Directive 90/388/EEC exclusive rights granted for the provision of telecommunications services are also incompatible with Article 90 (1) of the Treaty, in conjunction with Article 86 of the Treaty, where they are granted to telecommunications organizations which also enjoy exclusive or special rights for the establishment and the provision of telecommunications networks since their grant amounts to the reinforcement or the extension of a dominant position or necessarily leads to other abuses of such position.

• (4) 

  In 1990, the Commission, however, granted a temporary exception under Article 90 (2) in respect of exclusive and special rights for the provision of voice telephony, since the financial resources for the development of the network still derived mainly from the operation of the telephony service and the opening-up of that service could, at that time,...

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