EU: France Fails Directive Test

BRUSSELS -- On 8 April 2003 the Commission decided to send France a reasoned opinion for having failed to comply with the "Cable" Directive and the "Full Competition" Directive by maintaining special arrangements for the provision of telecommunications services by cable. The combined effect of the two Directives for cable operators is to remove restrictions on the provision of telecommunications services on cable networks, which until recently were essentially dedicated to the distribution of television programmes. The 1995 "Cable" Directive and the 1996 "Full Competition" Directive required Member States to allow cable television network operators to provide telecommunications services under the same conditions as any other telecommunications operator. One of the objectives of the "Cable" Directive was to develop competition between infrastructures for the provision of telecommunications services. As far as the regulatory framework is concerned, the "Cable" Directive stipulates that authorisation procedures must be identical if the same services are being provided, regardless of whether the service is provided on cable networks or on public telecommunications networks. The Commission considers that France has not complied with the Directives, since on two important points it has maintained separate regulatory arrangements for telecommunications services provided by cable operators. In the first place, the provision of telephone services by cable operators requires systematic prior consultation of all the municipalities concerned, which then issue an opinion. For the provision of other telecommunications services, such as Internet access, the cable operators are required to inform the relevant municipalities in advance. These requirements, which do not apply to the other telecommunications operators, seriously handicap cable operators' business and discourage them from attempting to move into these fields. One cable operator was actually refused permission to provide telephone services in a number of municipalities after they had issued an unfavourable opinion. In addition, cable network operators do not enjoy the same rights to use public facilities as the operators of other telecommunications networks. In particular, the charges for use of public facilities are not subject to the same ceilings. These various handicaps have prevented the cable networks from developing fully as an infrastructure for the provision of telecommunications services. The Commission's investigation is in response to a complaint which the French Association of Multi-Service Network Operators (AFORM) lodged with the Commission in October 2001. In its reasoned opinion adopted on 8 April, the Commission gives France two months to bring its legislation into line with Community law.