ADR in B2B Disputes in the EU Telecommunications Sector: Where Does the EU Stand and What Does the EU Stand for?

Abstract

This paper analyses the application of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms to disputes arising between telecommunications undertakings under the EU Telecommunications Package, as revised on November 4, 2009. The new rules aimed at facilitating the development of the EU common telecommunications market, and were designed to increase the powers of national regulatory authorities (NRAs) across the Member States in the imposition of regulatory obligations in a coherent manner. One key reform concerned the centralisation of the dispute resolution functions of NRAs. Within the new dispute resolution prerogatives, NRAs were empowered with a right to determine their appropriateness for handling regulatory disputes between telecommunications undertakings or to decline their jurisdiction should other ADR means be available and more suitable for the resolution of regulatory disputes. This paper examines the mere development of ADR in telecommunications disputes in the UK, Ireland and Poland following the revision of the EU Telecommunications Package. Moreover, the paper analyses the effectiveness of the recent European Union (EU) policy on promoting ADR within the EU legal order against the background of the fragmented national approaches to ADR, as examined in the selected jurisdictions.