Approximation to the European regulatory framework in the electronic communications has been the primary goal of the EMERG since its establishment in 2008. To this aim, the European Union has supported its activities and sponsored them to enable the participation of the experts from the Southern-Mediterranean Countries, within the ideals and the principles of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation set out in the Barcelona Declaration of November 28, 1995.
The EMERG Plenary 2019 decided to set up a specific expert working group, chaired by CRA Bosnia and Herzegovina, so to track all the progress made by the EMERG members, in particular South-Mediterranean countries, in this direction.
The purpose of this report is to critically examine and evaluate the progress regarding the electronic communications sector of EMERG member states, in particular the rapprochement of non-EU countries with the EU members. The report maps the progress achieved in the convergence of the telecommunications frameworks as well as comparison of trends and state of regulatory achievement between EU and non EU countries. The special focus is put on the level of approximation achieved within the period of the last three to four years. In the last several years, steps have been taken to approximate EU standards and regulations in certain areas. For the purpose of this report, EMERG conducted a small survey focusing on the most important projects and trends that the regulators have been facing over the past 5 years.
The Report is structured in the following way:
Chapter 1 Introduction;
Chapter 2 presents the development of the EMERG countries in terms of institutional aspects;
Chapter 3 focuses on regulatory developments and measures that have been undertaken by members to achieve rapprochement,
Chapter 4 shows how countries have developed in terms of market parameters; in that regard it is also important to show where discrepancies are persisting, and the reasons behind these differences. Chapter 5 summarizes the findings and evaluates the recommendations made during the EMERG workshops in recent years.
Background
The European Mediterranean Regulators Group (EMERG) was established on July 1st, 2008 in Malta, as an independent platform of National Regulatory Authorities for Electronic Communications Networks and Services.
EMERG is open to any National Regulatory Authority (NRA) concerned with the electronic communications sector that is member of or observer in the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) or party to the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership launched within the framework of the Barcelona Declaration of November 28, 1995 and/or to the ENP-South countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy.
Currently, EMERG is integrated by the NRAs of 23 countries: Algeria, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, State of Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.
