Book Review: Telecommunication Laws in Europe

AuthorSophie Stalla-Bourdillon
PositionUniversity of Southampton Law School
Pages65-68
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65
Book Title: Telecommunication Laws in Europe 6
th
Edition
Editor : Joachim Scherer
Publisher:
Year of Publication: February, 2013
Price: £195.00
ISBN: 978 1 84766 885 1
Format: Hardback
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Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon
University of Southampton Law School
S.Stalla-Bourdillon@soton.ac.uk
While Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, has
recently promised “to spend the next 12 months building a bridge with [the European Parliament] to our
citizens”
1
in order to deliver the new T elecom Package around Easter 2014, Joachim Scherer et al have
just p ublished a timely update of their previous edition Telecommunication la ws in Europe. Given the
speed at which the digital economy evolves and the necessity for law- makers to keep pace with this
evolution (the 2009 Telecom Package was meant to be transposed at domestic level by the end of May
2011), it is crucial to draw as quickly as possible the lessons from both the successes and failures of the
adoption and implementation of previous regulatory strategies.
The objective of this book, as described by the edito r, is to “provide an overview of both the emerging
pan-European legislative framework for electronic communications and its application at national level in
the 27 EU Member States and seven non-EU Member States, including one acceding and se veral
candidate cou ntries”
2
. It is thus divided into four parts: the first part is dedicated to telecommunication
law and policy in the European Union; the second part looks at the international regulator y framewor k
and examines the laws of the International Telecommunication Union and the World Trade Organisation
including a chapter on compliance and risk management covering anti-bribery and corruption rules; the
third par t, the most extensive, contains 27 chapters, one per Member States; and the fourth pa rt covers
telecommunication laws in 7 non-EU Member States (Croatia
3
, Macedonia, Norway, Russia, Switzerland,
Turkey and Ukraine).
All in all, the objective has been met. The first part of the book describes in a comprehensive manner
the E U “patchy”
4
regulatory framework comprising the Framework Directive
5
, the A uthorisation
Directive
6
, the Access Directive
7
and the Universal Service Directive
8
as amended by the Better
1
Neelie Kroes, The politics of the completing the telecoms single market, 30 May 2013,, at
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-484_en.htm, accessed 09.07.2013.
2
Joachim Scherer, P reface to Telecommunication Laws in Europe, ed. by Jo achim Scherer, Bloomsbury
Professional, West Sussex, 2013, p. vii.
3
Which is now the 28
th
Member State since Monday 1 July 2013.
4
Term used by Neelie Kroes in her foreward to Telecommunication Laws in Europe, ed. by J oachim Scherer,
Bloomsbury Professional, West Sussex, 2013, p. vi.
5
Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory
framework for electronic communications networks and services [2002] OJ L108/33.
6
Directive 2002/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on the autho risation of
electronic communications networks and services [2002] OJ L108/21.

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