Brussels/Berlin, 17.09.2024 – EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today presented her candidates for the new EU Commission. Lisia Mix, Head of Federal and European Policy at the German Broadband Association (BREKO), explains:

“BREKO congratulates Henna Virkkunen and Teresa Ribera Rodríguez on their nomination as Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and looks forward to future cooperation for fiber deployment and competition in the European telecommunications market.

As Executive Vice-President for Security, Democracy and Values, Henna Virkkunen will be responsible for areas of digitalization and digital infrastructure, the success of which will have a decisive influence on the future competitiveness of the EU as a whole. The Digital Networks Act initiated by the outgoing EU Commission will set the course for telecommunications policy in particular.

However, Virkkunen must not follow the fallacy of her predecessor Breton that less competition within the EU will make European companies more competitive with the rest of the world. This is because the competitors of the market-dominating companies make the greatest contribution to the nationwide provision of future-proof digital infrastructure, particularly in the expansion of fiber optics. Fair competition is therefore essential in order to achieve the goals of the digital decade.

As Executive Vice-President for a clean, fair and competitive transition – and therefore responsible for competition – Teresa Ribera Rodríguez will also have a major influence on the telecommunications market. In the upcoming fundamental review of the existing regulatory regime, she must insist on the retention of asymmetric ex ante regulation of companies with market power in order to continue to enable fair competition in Europe.

Without adequate regulation, the imminent shutdown of the copper networks offers their owners enormous potential for abuse in order to transfer their market power to the fiber optic networks.”