Today the European Parliament voted an important motion for resolution on the Annual Report on EU Competition Policy.

The report concerns, inter alia, the competitiveness situation in the European Telecom sector. The European Parliament reminds the importance of competition for investments, innovation and consumer welfares, and addressed the risks if excessive market concentration.

The position of the European assembly follows straight the declarations of Competition Commissioner Vestager who, during the Mobile Forum in Barcelona and in public interviews, made clear her intentions to stop the telecom consolidation process in the EU, as far as consumers interests may be affected. It is worth-noting that the Competition Directorate of the European Commission is currently carrying out deep investigation about mergers in Spain, Danmark and UK.

Remarkably, the European Parliament expressly doubts about the market data used by the European Commission to justify some of its past policy positions. This is of paramount importance. The past European Commission (namely the former Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Dutch Neelie Kroes) has been accused to have taken initiatives without a sufficient assessment of the market and proper consultation with stake-holders (a proceeding is currently pending with the European Ombudsman with regard to the Connected Continent proposal). Doubts have been also emerging also with regard to the comparison between US and EU broadband market data, when it became clear that Europe is performing much better than US, at least as far as the interests of consumers are concerned.

Rather then commenting the wording of the draft at stake, it is much more interesting to look directly at the relevant statements of the resolution (§§47 to 50 copied below, I added some emphasis when needed):

47. Underlines that, in the next-generation broadband sector, the former monopolies have a staggering market share of over 80 %; recalls that effective competition is the best driver of efficient investment and provides maximum consumer benefit in terms of choice, price and quality; calls on the Commission, therefore, to enforce properly both ex post and ex ante competition rules in order to prevent excessive market concentration and abuse of dominance, as competitive pressure is key to ensuring that consumers can benefit the most from high-quality services at affordable prices;
48. Stresses that limiting competition is unlikely to lead to more broadband investment, even in remote areas, as full coverage of basic broadband services has been achieved in Europe through a regulatory framework ensuring access to dominant operators’ networks;
49. Believes that investment in next-generation broadband infrastructure is clearly core to achieving a digital economy and society, but that in order to maximise investments, telecoms policies should enable all players to make efficient investments by providing them with effective access to non-duplicable network assets and fit-for-purpose wholesale access products;
50. Calls on the Commission to base its decisions and policy proposals on a thorough and impartial analysis of correct, relevant and independent datasets; highlights, in particular, doubts about the correctness of data presented on the EU’s under-performance in high- speed broadband including speeds received by end-users, infrastructure investments and the financial state of the sector in a global comparison;