Case C-85/14: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 17 September 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven — Netherlands) — KPN BV v Autoriteit Consument en Markt (ACM) (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Electronic communications networks and services — Universal service and users’ rights — Directive 2002/22/EC — Article 28 — Access to numbers and to services — Non-geographic numbers — Directive 2002/19/EC — Articles 5, 8 and 13 — Powers of the national regulatory authorities — Price control — Call transit services — National legislation requiring providers of telephone call transit services not to charge higher tariffs for calls to non-geographic numbers than for calls to geographic numbers — Undertaking without significant market power — Relevant national authority)
Date: 2015-09-17
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: price control, price regulations, telephone, telephone charges, universal service








C_2015371EN.01000901.xml










9.11.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 371/9





Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 17 September 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven — Netherlands) — KPN BV v Autoriteit Consument en Markt (ACM)
(Case C-85/14) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Electronic communications networks and services - Universal service and users’ rights - Directive 2002/22/EC - Article 28 - Access to numbers and to services - Non-geographic numbers - Directive 2002/19/EC - Articles 5, 8 and 13 - Powers of the national regulatory authorities - Price control - Call transit services - National legislation requiring providers of telephone call transit services not to charge higher tariffs for calls to non-geographic numbers than for calls to geographic numbers - Undertaking without significant market power - Relevant national authority))
(2015/C 371/11)
Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: KPN BV

Defendant: Autoriteit Consument en Markt (ACM)

Intervening parties: UPC Nederland BV, UPC Nederland Business BV, Tele2 Nederland BV, BT Nederland NV

Operative part of the judgment







1)


EU law must be interpreted as allowing a relevant national authority to impose a tariff obligation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under Article 28 of Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services (Universal Service Directive), as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009, to remove an obstacle to calling non-geographic numbers within the European Union which is not technical in nature, but which results from the tariffs applied, without a market analysis having been carried out showing that the undertaking concerned has significant market power, if such an obligation constitutes a necessary and proportionate step to ensure that end-users are able to access services using non-geographic numbers within the European Union.
It is for the national court to determine whether that condition is satisfied and whether the tariff obligation is objective, transparent, proportionate, non-discriminatory, based on the nature of the problem identified and justified in the light of the objectives laid down in Article 8 of Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (Framework Directive), as amended by Directive 2009/140/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009, and whether the procedures laid down in Articles 6, 7 and 7a of Directive 2002/21, as amended by Directive 2009/140, have been followed.










2)


EU law must be interpreted as meaning that a Member State may provide that a tariff obligation under Article 28 of Directive 2002/22, as amended by Directive 2009/136, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, be imposed by a national authority other than the national regulatory authority usually responsible for applying the European Union’s new regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, provided that that authority satisfies the conditions of competence, independence, impartiality and transparency required by Directive 2002/21, as amended by Directive 2009/140, and that the decisions which it takes can form the subject of an effective appeal to a body independent of the interested parties, this being a matter for the referring court to determine.






(1)  OJ C 151, 19.5.2014.