France’s Ministère de l’Economie, du Redressement Productif et du Numérique published a decree restoring the sanctioning power of telecoms watchdog the Autorité de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes (Arcep), according to Telegeography.com on Aug 11, 2014. The document, “Decree No. 2014-867 of 1 August 2014”, sets the conditions for Arcep’s power to sanction operators in the telecoms and postal services sectors. It also lays the conditions for the formation of settlement disputes, sets the rules for preliminary investigations and specifies the proceedings necessary before Arcep is required to impose sanctions on operators not complying with its decisions.

As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, the Constitutional Council (Conseil d’Etat) stripped the watchdog of its authority to sanction telecoms operators in July 2013, as it believed the telecoms regulator did not comply with the French Constitution’s principle of separation of power. However, in March 2014, the regulator regained its full authority, following the Council’s decision to introduce new sanctioning procedures in the electronic communications sectors based on the model of the French data protection authority Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés. Under the new provisions, different members of the Arcep executive board will be assigned different tasks in order to ensure that the principle of separating investigative and sanctioning powers is met. A body comprising of four board members, including the chairman of Arcep, will adopt decisions on formal notices, investigations, dispute settlements and inquiries, while the remaining three board members will make decisions on sanctions.