Investaura has recently advised a telecoms group on its regulatory accounting strategy and its response to the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) concerning accounting separation remedies.

Accounting Separation remedies, as defined in Article 11 of the Access Directive, are applied to various degrees in the EU28 as at early 2019.

The European regulation on Separated Regulatory Accounting is based on the following key set of Regulation, Directives and Recommendation:

  • 2002/19/EC (March 2002): Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities (“Access Directive”) as well as its amendment Directive 2009/140/EC of November 2009.
  • 2005/698/EC (September 2005): Commission Recommendation on Accounting Separation and Cost Accounting systems under the regulatory framework for electronic communications.
  • 2018/1972 (December 2018): Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Electronic Communications Code.
  • 2018/1971 (December 2018): Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Body European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).

The application of ex ante regulation and remedies in Europe is set out in Article 9 to Article 13 of the Access Directive:

  • Article 9: Transparency
  • Article 10: Non-discrimination
  • Article 11: Accounting Separation
  • Article 12: Access to and use of specific network facilities
  • Article 13: Cost accounting and Price control

The number of ‘markets’ considered susceptible to ex ante regulation has been reduced from 18 markets in 2003, to 7 markets in 2007 and 5 markets in 2014. The regulation is now almost entirely focused on wholesale.

Investaura has reviewed the situation in 20 countries in Europe making up 97% of the European population. The practice of Accounting Separation regulation in Europe has also evolved in the recent past. The trend in Europe is toward reducing SRA obligations. The sector-specific regulation currently in force is expected to gradually disappear in favour of the common competition law.

Investaura consultants are also expert in cost accounting and cost allocation methodologies (HCA / CCA, FAC / LRIC) including bottom-up cost models.

For more information, feel free to contact us.