Research Evaluation OPTA

The management of Market and Organization of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) has put out to public tender the study into the efficiency and effectiveness of the functioning of OPTA. Parties have been invited to bring out a tender according with the project description, procedures and instructions as described in the document Research Evaluation OPTA, version July, 13th, 2004.

The legal basis of the OPTA lies in the Law Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority (law OPTA). This forms the legal framework for the position of the government as a regulator in a competitive market for telecommmunications and post. OPTA has been given dedicated supervisory and executive tasks in that framework.

Article 25 of the law OPTA stipulates that the Minister of Economic Affairs evaluates each four year the effectiveness and efficiency of the OPTA evaluates and sends a report to the parliament. The evaluation must produce insight in the way in which OPTA gives interpretation to its legal tasks and uses its instruments and competences. The evaluation period runs of 1 December 2000 up to 1 October 2004.

For the evaluation the following areas become distinguished for special attention:
- Implementation of legal tasks;
- The internal organisation and management of OPTA;
- The effective cooperation between EZ and OPTA;
- The relations with other institutions and organisation.

In the point of view of the government on the earlier Evaluation OPTA, July, 6th 2001, 2005 is called as a year on which the institutional design of the regulation can be evaluated within the framework of the law OPTA. Sectoral supervision of the telecommunications - and post market (the OPTA) is then possibly part of the NMA as a chamber. At this point it is unclear what the current point of view of the government is.

Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7th March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, states in Article 3.2 that Member states shall guarantee the independence of national regulator authorities by ensuring that they are legally distinct from and functionally independent of all organisations providing electronic communications networks, equipment or services. Member States that retain ownership or control of undertakings providing electronic communications networks and/or services shall ensure effective structural separation of the regulatory function from activities associated with ownership or control. The Dutch government still is a shareholder of KPN. In 2002 the government has communicated that the OPTA will merge with the Netherlands Competition Authority. On 24th June, 2004, a Cooperation protocol was signed between the Commission of the Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority (OPTA) and the Director General of NMa on the method of cooperation in matters of mutual interest. What happened with the issue of the integration of OPTA into NMa? Why isn’t it anymore on the political agenda?