The European Commission considers that the decision of the Slovak Parliament to dismiss the chairman of the national telecoms regulator (TÚRS) represents a serious violation of its independence.
According to EU telecoms rules, governments and parliaments are only permitted to remove a chairman in limited circumstances and must have serious reasons for taking such action. The Commission has taken the view that the reasons for the dismissal given by the Slovak Parliament violate the independence of the national regulators. It has sent two letters to bring the seriousness of the case to the attention of the Slovak government but has not received a satisfactory response. The Commission has now sent a letter of formal notice to Slovakia, the first stage of an infringement proceeding under Article 226 of the EC Treaty, which can eventually lead to a case before the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Similar cases have been opened against Poland, which was referred to the ECJ, and Romania.
