A Short Note on the Harmonisation of Regulation in the European Union

The internal market was to have been completed in 1992, yet for telecommunications progress stalled some years ago. In 2003 a legal framework came into force that contained complex mechanisms for the harmonisation of regulatory decision making, with regulators bound to work to complete the internal market. No attempts were made to create measures of either harmonisation or progress towards the goal of an internal market. There are significant gaps in accountability, with the advice and decisions of BEREC not subject to appeal, nor is there an independent oversight body. Regulators have failed to adopt open data principles, indeed practising considerable secrecy. Nor have regulators acted on problems of corruption in the sector. A number of recommendations are made to improve the system of regulation