New Federalized EC Telecom Rules?

The European Union might on Nov. 5, 2008 get a new proposal from European Commission Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding for creation of a pan-European telecom regulatory body that would have some measure of control over telecom rules in the EU's 27 member states, each of which is currently regulated by its own national organizations.

Those plans would create a single European regulator, along the lines of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The new body would not have the right to dictate regulation, but could block plans proposed by any member nation. In essence, the proposal aims to further the aim of creating a unified telecoms market thoroughout the EU, much as U.S. competitors have in the past preferred a single federal set of rules to 50 possibly-different sets of rules set by States.