IRELAND HAS BEEN fined €4.5 million by the EU Court of Justice for persistent delays in incorporating updated rules for telecoms services and networks into national law.
The EU Electronic Communications Code was adopted in 2018 and as of 2022, had been adopted in most EU states.
However, it wasn’t until the end of 2023 that it was deemed to be fully implemented in Ireland.
The Code was meant to be incorporated into the national law of EU Member States by December 21, 2020.
It aims to offer better consumer protection and “promote sustainable competition for the benefit of consumers”.
The Code also improves connection speeds and coverage by promoting co-investment in telecommunication networks.
The European Commission said Ireland failed to adopt these measures in due time and the EU Court of Justice ruled that Ireland “failed to fulfil its obligations”.
The Commission said it sent a formal notice to Ireland on 3 February, 2021, having received no communication previously on the incorporation of the Code.
Ireland was then tasked with complying with the Code by 23 November, 2021, and an extension request to 23 February, 2022 was accepted by the Commission.
However, that deadline was missed and the Commission lodged legal action in July 2022.
Ireland attempted to justify the delay by claiming that it was impossible to incorporate the Directive into national law under to the new constitutional requirements decided in the “Zalewski Case”.
It was landmark decision by the Supreme Court that declared that laws placing an absolute ban on employment disputes being heard in public is unconstitutional.
In June 2023, Ireland then informed the court that it had implemented the Code, with the exception of Article 110.
This article mandates that EU countries operate a public warning system that can send geo-targeted emergency alerts to all mobile phones during a natural or man-made disaster.
This public warning system article was implemented on 29 November, 2023 and the European Commission deemed the implementation of the Code was fully completed on 1 December, 2023.
The Commission then noted that it would “partially withdraw” its claim that Ireland should be ordered to pay a lump sum of € 5.1 million.
The EU Court of Justice ruled that Ireland failed to adopt and communicate to the Commission the necessary measures to comply with the rules for the telecoms sector within the set deadline.
It further ruled that the need to take account of new constitutional requirements resulting from the Zalewski Case “cannot justify the non-compliance with the obligations and deadlines”.
The Court also made reference to the timespan of the infringement, which persisted for 1073 days, close to three years.
“A very long time span, even considering the uncontested exceptional conditions linked to the COVID pandemic,” said the EU Court.
For “persisting in its failures to fulfil its obligations” by failing to adopt the measures of the Code, the EU Court imposed a lump sum fine of €4.5 million.
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