Does the Commission have sole power to define e-communications markets, or can Member States do it, too?
The starting point is the Commission Recommendation on relevant markets, which has been presented today in its second edition. National regulators are expected to analyse all markets listed in this Recommendation, taking into account their national circumstances. However, if a national regulator considers that a market not listed in this Recommendation is relevant for regulation because it is characterised by persistent market failure, it may impose regulatory measures but has to justify on the basis of predefined criteria (the so-called “three criteria” test) why regulation is warranted in that specific situation. What happens when a new technology or service is launched – do you (or Member States) define a new market? Regulation under the EU Telecoms Rules is based on competition law principles. In practice, this means that whenever a new technology is introduced, the regulator has to analyse whether this technology is used to provide services comparable to existing services or wheth
