144
Diop
Third, whereas in the European Union prices are set by the market competitively, Morocco requires firms, including those that do not dominate the market, to submit tariffs to the regulator for approval. In the European Union, the regulator checks for general competitiveness in the market but does not regulate prices. Price regulation is decried as a mechanism that slows down the market. Fourth, participating in the EU common market would mean an institutional adjustment for the sharing of regulatory responsibility between the government, the ANRT, and the European Commission. With the constitution of a common telecommunications market at the EU level, responsibility for regulation is now shared by the European Commission, which publishes directives and guidelines; national governments, which implement appropriate legislations; and national regulatory agencies, which implement the full framework. The European Commission plays an important role in ensuring that rules are applied consistently in all member states, in cooperation with other national regulatory agencies. National regulatory agencies in particular have to assess the degree of effective competition in relevant markets and decide which regulatory obligations to impose on players with significant market power. Short- to medium-term priority in Morocco should perhaps be given to further developing infrastructure to meet the rapidly growing demand for high-speed Internet services and developing the data segment of the market. Unbundling the local loop would allow new service providers to reach end users through the existing network. Subscribers would then be able to choose freely among all operators without having to have a subscription with Maroc Telecom. The ANRT’s objective is to achieve full unbundling in the medium term. The ANRT could benefit from technical assistance in the form of twinning from the European Union for the purpose of converging gradually to the EU framework. It could, for instance, further improve the governance of the sector by incorporating the most recent trends in the European Union in managing, allocating, and pricing the radio spectrum. The regulatory gaps identified above could gradually be closed as appropriate through technical cooperation. Estonia provides a convincing example of the importance and benefits of using EU technical assistance and twinning (box 6.2).
Air Transport Fully participating in the EU acquis in air transport is challenging for Morocco, because the European Union has the most deeply integrated