Privatization and European Economic and Monetary Union

To qualify for full membership in the Economic and Monetary Union, member states had to meet strict budget deficit and government debt convergence criteria. This study analyzes whether deficits and indebtedness in the 1990s in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece were associated with a shift from privatization as a tool of economic restructuring, to privatization as a tool of European monetary convergence. The empirical results suggests that privatization funds accruing from the sale of state-owned enterprises in the Southern European countries might have been used to tackle budget deficits and meet the stringent criteria for monetary integration.Monetary Union; Privatization

"Telecommunications reform and Internet penetration in the EU"

This poster is a demonstration and discussion of policy issues related to Internet penetration in the European Union, particularly the local telephony tariff infrastructure needed to support (the growth of) Internet penetration rates in EU member states. The usage of the Internet for economic growth, including ecommerce, and political participation has become a much discussed public policy issue. The European Union lags behind the United States in the amount of users connected to the Internet, particularly individuals and households. European local telephony tariff reform is crucial for the growth of Internet access by individuals and households, regardless of the level of network sophistication in place. Local phone tariffs in the EU member states vary from approximately US$0.25 to US$2.00 per minute compared to the U.S. local tariff of US$O.OO per minute. In effect, making a 10 minute connection to a local Internet Access Provider (IAC) (which in most instances is the national telecommunications provider) in Europe can cost between US$2.50-US$20.00 while in the U.S. a local connection to an IAC is cost-free. These local phone charges are in addition to rates individuals pay to an IAC for an Internet account on a (usually) monthly basis. Individuals and households have little incentive to connect to the Internet with such local tariff rates. Member states are undergoing telecommunications regulatory reform, following European-wide initiatives for restructuring the sector. Local telephony tariff reform lags, however. Unless reform occurs to decrease tariffs charged by telecommunications operators for local calls, widespread access to the Internet will remain moderately low for individuals and households

"On the same 'wave length'?: Telecommunications reform in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain"

The Southern-tier states of the European Union (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) share two interesting political motivations for telecommunications reform. First, privatization is perceived by national leaders not as a tool for restructuring but as a tool to pursue other regional objectives, such as the use of receipts from telecommunications privatization to reduce national deficits and public debt to meet the convergence criteria for full participation in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and future development of the European Union (EU). Second, the introduction of competition in telecommunications networks and services is not strictly perceived as a tool to accrue the economic benefits associated with liberalization, but a trade-off national leaders face if the European Commission is to allow national telecommunications organizations to participate in international telecommunications alliances. Telecommunications reform can be pursued for economic motivations, yet these examples illustrate that political motivations exist in the Southern-tier states for policy adjustment in the sector