Romania has to inform the European Commission about the draft law on 5G technology: analysts

Romania must inform the European Commission about the draft law on 5G technology, in accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/1535, by which Member States must notify the Commission of any draft law containing technical regulations, before adopting according to some analysts in the telecommunications market.

The European Council calls on the EU and the Member States to make full use of the 5G cybersecurity toolkit adopted on 29 January 2020 and, in particular, to apply the relevant restrictions on high-risk providers for core assets defined as essential and sensitive in coordinated risk assessments at EU level. The European Council emphasizes that potential 5G technology providers must be assessed on the basis of common objective criteria.

According to the European Council meeting, the EU needs to build a truly digital single market and strengthen its capacity to define its own rules, make autonomous technological choices and develop and implement strategic digital capabilities and infrastructures. “The EU will remain open to all companies that comply with European rules and standards. Digital development must guarantee our values, security and fundamental rights and be socially balanced. Such a human-centered approach will increase the attractiveness of the European model. “

“All Member States must be informed of the technical regulations envisaged by any other Member State.”

Under the Treaties, the Commission is responsible for ensuring the correct application of Community law. As the Guardian of the Treaties, the Commission has the option of initiating infringement proceedings under Article 258 (ex Article 226 TEC) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union whenever it considers that a Member State has infringed Community law. The infringement procedure begins with a letter allowing the Commission to present its views on the observed infringement. If no reply to the letter is received or if the comments submitted by the Member State in response to that notification cannot be considered satisfactory, the Commission will proceed to the next stage of the infringement procedure, which is the reasoned opinion; if necessary, the Commission will refer the matter to the Court of Justice.

The Commission’s annual reports on the application of Community law have been published since 1982 and are designed to provide the public with access to information on ongoing legal proceedings. In addition, the decisions of the Court can be accessed on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. All decisions can also be consulted via EUR-Lex. An overview of the implementation of Community directives and infringement proceedings is provided on the website of the General Secretariat.

EU Directive 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 deals with the procedure for providing information in the field of technical regulations and rules on information society services. The Directive was created to promote the proper functioning of the internal market where transparency must be ensured regarding national initiatives aimed at establishing technical regulations.

The European authorities argue that it is essential for the Commission to have the necessary information before adopting technical regulations. “Consequently, Member States which are required to support the achievement of its objective in accordance with Article 4 (3) of the Treaty on European Union (EU Treaty) must notify their draft technical regulations.” Directive.

All Member States must be informed of the technical regulations envisaged by any other Member State.

From the date of notification of the project, there is a three-month suspension period – during which the notifying Member State cannot adopt the technical regulation in question – allowing the Commission and the other Member States to examine the notified text and respond accordingly.

According to the Directive, “technical regulation” means a technical specification or other requirement or rule relating to services, including relevant administrative provisions, the observance of which is mandatory, de jure or de facto, in the case of marketing, the provision of a service, the establishment of an operator. services or use in a Member State or a significant part thereof, and the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the Member States, except those provided for in Article 7, which prohibit the manufacture, import, marketing or use of a product or prohibiting the provision or use of a service or the establishment as a service provider.

De facto technical regulations include:

• the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a Member State which refer either to technical specifications or other requirements or rules relating to services, or to professional codes or codes of good practice, which in turn refer to specifications technical or other requirements or rules relating to services, the observance of which confers presumption of conformity with the obligations imposed by those laws or regulations;

• voluntary agreements to which a public authority is a contracting party and which provide, in the general interest, for compliance with technical specifications or other requirements or rules on services, with the exception of the specifications for public procurement;

• technical specifications or other requirements or rules regarding services in relation to fiscal or financial measures that affect the consumption of products or services by encouraging compliance with these technical specifications or other requirements or rules regarding services; technical specifications or other requirements or rules regarding services in connection with social security systems at national level are not included.

They include technical regulations imposed by the authorities designated by the Member States and included in a list drawn up and updated, as appropriate, by the Commission.

According to the Directive, Member States shall immediately communicate to the Commission any draft technical regulation, unless only the text of an international or European standard is fully transposed, in which case information on that standard is sufficient; they shall also provide the Commission with a statement of the reasons why such rules need to be adopted if those reasons have not been sufficiently clarified in the draft technical regulation.

Where appropriate and if they have not already been forwarded in a previous communication, Member States shall also communicate to the Commission the texts of the main laws, regulations or administrative provisions directly related to it, if it is necessary to know these texts in order to assess the implications of the draft technical regulation.