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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  News  Media  contact:  July  11,  2002  Audrey  Spivack  202-  418-  0512 
 FCC  RELEASES  ANALYSIS  OF  EMERGING  EUROPEAN  TELECOMMUNICATIONS  REGULATORY  FRAMEWORK 
 Study  Evaluates  Potential  Relevance  to  Telecommunications  Regulatory  Practice  in  the  U.  S. 
 Washington,  D.  C.  -  The  Federal  Communications  Commission's  Office  of  Plans  and  Policy  (OPP)  today  released  OPP  Working  Paper  No.  36,  "The  Potential  Relevance  to  the  United  States 
 of  the  European  Union’s  Newly  Adopted  Regulatory  Framework  for  Telecommunications,"  by  J.  Scott  Marcus. 


 OPP  periodically  issues  working  papers  on  emerging  issues  in  communications  in  order  to  stimulate  debate.  These  papers  represent  the  individual  views  of  their  authors  and  do  not 
 necessarily  reflect  the  views  of  the  FCC,  any  FCC  commissioner,  or  other  staff.. 
 The  European  Union’s  telecommunications  regulatory  framework  adopted  in  March  2002  represents  a  bold  and  innovative  response  to  the  challenges  of  technological  and  market 
 convergence  in  the  area  of  telecommunications.  It  recognizes  that  much  of  telecommunications  regulation  exists  as  a  means  of  addressing  potential  and  actual  abuses  of  market  power.  With 
 that  in  mind,  the  EU  attempts  a  comprehensive,  technology-  neutral  approach  to  regulation,  which  borrows  concepts  of  market  definition  and  of  market  power  from  competition  law. 


 This  paper  assesses  potential  strengths  and  weaknesses  of  the  EU  approach,  draws  parallels  to  regulatory  practice  in  the  United  States,  and  considers  the  possible  relevance  of  the  new  EU 
 methodology  to  the  very  different  legal  and  regulatory  framework  in  the  United  States. 
 The  full  text  of  the  paper  is  available  at  either  www.  fcc.  gov/  opp.  OPP  contact:  J.  Scott  Marcus  (202)  418-  0611. 


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