German draft telecoms law at odds with European framework

摘要

The new German telecommunications law, at present in draft, may hamper rather than foster the implementation of the European telecommunications package in Germany, and even trigger a clash with the European Commission and alternative operators if it enters German statute books in its current form. Such is the consensus from interviews with the European legal telecoms fraternity. Because of the late passage of the law, Germany will implement the European telecoms package at least six months after the July 25 deadline. The draft, which was published by the German government on April 30, should facilitate the transposition of the European Commission's communications package into German law. The adoption of a final draft is expected by August in order to get the parliamentary process started before the end of September.