EU Electronic Communications Law

• The leading treatment of the field with insight into the regulations.
• Combines the experience of Peter Rodford who negotiated the framework on behalf of the European Commission with Paul Nihoul's rigorous academic analysis.
• Indispensable coverage of the new regulatory package.

New to this edition

• New section on privacy protection in electronic networks.
• Updated to reflect the new regulatory package which changes fundamental mechanisms.
• Reflects recent case law in the European courts including the case law on the part of the European Commission on the coordination mechanism for the relations between national regulatory authorities.

Readership: Practitioners dealing with electronic communications in Europe either at a European level or at a national level; lawyers interested in data privacy protection; businesses and other undertakings active in the electronic communications markets; regulators at national and European level working in this area; academics and advanced students and reference libraries in the UK and worldwide.

Paul Nihoul, Professor of Law, University of Louvain and Professor of Law, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, and Peter Rodford, Former Head of the European Commission unit responsible for regulatory policy in electronic communications (DG Information Society, Unit B1 'Policy development')

Professor Paul Nihoul is Professor of Law at the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is also Jean Monet Professor of Law at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and Editor of the Journal of European Competition Law & Practice (OUP). His areas of research are Europe, Competition and Consumer Protection, including Food Law. He has been teaching European Competition Law, Competition Economics, Consumer law, Food Law, Electronic Communications, Network Regulation, Institutional Issues and Judicial Protection since 1990.

Peter Rodford is a former Head of the European Commission unit responsible for regulatory policy in electronic communications (DG Information Society, Unit B1 'Policy development'), and took part on behalf of the Commission in the recent negotiation with the European Parliament and Council on the amendments to the EU regulatory framework. He was a member of the Commission's staff from 1974 to 2010, and worked in the Legal Service, the External Affairs Directorate General, and as a member of the cabinet of Commissioner Peter M. Schmidhuber, where he was responsible for telecoms liberalisation and external affairs. He is visiting professor in the European Legal Studies Department of the College of Europe.

"...authoritative and learned book...practitiners, academices, students, and many others - will find this book indispensable not only as an authoritative work of reference, but as a readable and accessible aid to understanding the new regulatory framework...a vital addition to your business's law library" - Phillip Taylor MBE & Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

1: The regulation of electronic communications in the European Union
2: Authorisations and formalities prior to starting activities
3: Access to facilities and resources controlled by other undertakings
4: The universal service obligations and provisions ensuring the general availability of certain services
5: User protection and dispute resolution