Slovakia

[SK] New Telecom and Postal Regulatory Authority

IRIS 2014-2:1/35

Juraj Polak

Radio and Television of Slovakia (PSB)

On 27 November 2013, the Slovak Parliament passed the Act No. 402/2013 Coll. on the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (hereinafter “Act”). The Act was signed by the President and entered into force on 1 January 2014.

The Act merges two preceding regulatory authorities: the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic and the Postal Regulatory Office. The new regulatory authority takes over all competences of the preceding authorities and acts as universal successor of all rights and obligations. The objective of the merge is the lowering of costs. According to the Act’s official reasoning, projected savings for the first three years of the new regulatory authority in charge amount to more than 1.1 million EUR.

The new regulatory authority is constituted as independent body outside of the regular governmental structure with funding separated from the general state budget. The new regulatory authority is presided over by a chairman, who is elected and dismissed by the National Council upon proposal of the Government. The chairman, in times of absence, is deputised by the vice-chairman who is also appointed and dismissed by the Government. The term of office for the chairman and vice-chairman is six years with limitation to two consecutive terms.

Subjects of regulation may appeal against decisions of the regulatory authority through a two tier system. The first tier is the review by the regulatory authority itself. In case of a rejection, there is an appeal to the Najvyšší súd Slovenskej republiky (Supreme Court of Slovakia) as the second tier.

The independence and professional integrity of the chairman and vice-chairman is supervised by a designated parliamentary committee. The committee may (upon request or on its own account) start proceedings to protect public interests or to prevent conflicts of interest. The committee is entitled to impose fines and, in case of severe offenses, its decision may lead to the dismissal of the chairman and vice-chairman. In this case, the committee’s decision requires approval by the parliament with a 60% majority. The chairman and vice-chairman may appeal against the decision of the committee to the Ústavný súd Slovenskej republiky (Constitutional Court of Slovak Republic).