European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union issued ruling on access obligations under European Electronic Communications clarifying that such obligations must be necessary, proportionate, and aimed at ensuring competition

On 20 November 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued its ruling in Telekom Deutschland GmbH v Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Case C-327/24). The Court held that, when deciding whether to impose an access obligation for civil engineering assets, a national regulatory authority must consider whether not imposing the obligation would hinder the development of a sustainable competitive market and would not serve end users’ interests. The authority must also ensure that any obligation is linked to the problems identified in the market analysis and is necessary and proportionate in light of all objectives listed in Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which are not ranked in order of importance. The ruling followed a preliminary reference submitted on 2 May 2024 by the Administrative Court of Cologne. The case concerned Articles 72 and 73 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 (the European Electronic Communications Code) and arose from a challenge to a 21 July 2022 decision of the Federal Network Agency. That decision imposed access obligations after Telekom Deutschland GmbH was designated as having significant market power in a market analysis dated 10 October 2019.