EU says no to telecom regulatory change

Brussels -- European Union telecommunication ministers have rejected a European Commission proposal to switch to an executive oversight regulatory arrangement.

One year ago, the Commission proposed forming an executive body that would make unified decisions for the entire region, the EU Observer reported Friday.

Oversight is currently handled nation by nation with the European Regulators Group coordinating national efforts without wielding executive power.

Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding said she was "disappointed" the European Regulators Group rejected the idea.

"I continue to believe that Europe's telecoms sector requires better rules than those now on the table here," Reding said.

She referred to a U.S. intelligence report released last Friday that said the European Union would become politically a "hobbled giant," by 2025, the newspaper said.

"It is decisions that we take now that will determine whether this is indeed our fate, whether our giant market of 500 million consumers and many innovative companies remains hobbled by 27 varieties of regulation, by fragmentation, and by the absence of a level playing field for our industry," she said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.