BNS: Lithuania rejects EU criticism over telecoms regulation
Updated 2008-11-19
VILNIUS, Nov 19, BNS - The Lithuanian Cabinet has supported the Transport and Communications Ministry's position that the country should not agree with the European Commission's claim that its communications regulatory authority is not fully independent because the ministry responsible for telecoms also performs certain market regulatory functions.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved conclusions worked out by the ministry's specialists, in which they laid down the arguments why Lithuania does not agree with the criticism from the EU's executive body, Valdemaras Sulauskas, the Transport and Communications Ministry secretary, told BNS.
According to the European Commission, the Lithuanian Transport and Communications Minister participates in the allocation of radio frequencies, whereas the EU legislation requires the separation of regulatory functions from activities associated with the ownership and control of telecoms companies.
The EU's executive body in mid-September sent a letter of formal notice, the first stage of an infringement proceeding, to Lithuania. It said that the lack of structural separation could undermine the impartiality of regulatory decisions.
