The ‘Dark Side’ of Latvia: Riga as the European telecoms regulator’s future HQ?
Riga nightlife: A source of regulatory inspiration?
Yesterday only rumors in the twittersphere , but made official today, as tweeted by @JulienFrisch? Brussels seems to have reached a decision on the location of the seat of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), which will be in the capital of (the Republic of) Latvia, Riga. As we speak the EC is registering the new domain names, as spotted by @t_regs. But not everyone in the Brussels EU sphere seems to be in favor of this location, and while some fear that the location will make interaction difficult, others are objecting on the grounds that a ‘dream location’, for example on a remote and sunny island, would be more appealing.
This ‘new’ institution was created in November 2009 to replace the ‘European Regulators Group for Electronic Communications Networks and Services’ (ERG) seated in Brussels. Which groups the 27 National Regulatory Authorities (NRA) for the telecoms market, such as the Belgian BIPT and the Dutch OPTA. According to the plans the secretariat should be staffed and operational at the end of 2011. The Institution has a rotating chair and vice-chair system, resembling the EU presidency, with John Doherty, chairmen of ComReg (the Irish NRA), as chair for 2010.
Using an endorsement of the European Council to set up new EU Institutions in new Member States (MS), Latvia’s Minister of Transport and Communication, Kaspars Gerhards (since 12 March 2009), launched the request to install the new BEREC headquarters (HQ’s) in Riga. Following the example of institutions such as the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), which is ‘Securing Europe’s Information Society’ all the way from the beautiful (ruins of) Greece. One of the 20 EU Institutions, at the moment speaking, located outside the Brussels EU quarter. A blunt campaign website, with creative wordplays, has put some force behind their request and has clearly won over the hearts of the decision makers for this lovely Baltic city.
Some background: Latvia became an EU MS on the first of May 2004, but before becoming independent in 1991, it has been under the ruling of the Soviets, the Poles, Germans and Swedes. Oj?rs Kalni?š, director of the Latvian Institute, describes Riga as: “offer[ing] everything that BEREC needs to do its work efficiently and cost-effectively. It’s easy to reach, has great office space and has some excellent restaurants, hotels and conference facilities. Plus, it’s located just minutes from the longest beach and some of the nicest forests in Europe. Quality of work is directly related to quality of life, and Riga makes both possible”.
But our preliminary research discovered the ‘dark side’ of Latvia’s Riga. Due to low-cost airlines it has seen a substantial increase in tourism. But not the regular kind. The city has become a popular and renowned destination for bachelor parties, especially for the British stag weekends. Which results into a whole other description of the city: “it abounds in bars featuring scantily clad women, filling-rattling music and vodka served by the gallon”. As such, it is not so weird that the city has one of Europe’s highest crime rates, which earned it a ‘Europe’s Crime Capital’s’ ‘award’ from Forbes Magazine.
The Brussels Jungle is looking forward to see the impact of Riga’s ‘dark side’ on their efforts for the telecoms market. It’s a shame there are no vacancies at the time being, because this could become an interesting undercover investigative journalism mission for our skilled reporters, who are willing to go that extra inch for our readers.
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Word in the street is… that due to a political pressure, the seat of this institution was moved to Riga with the oposition of all informed stakeholders… And word in the street is that Regulators are struggling to get even one qualified applicant to be sent to that lovely location… Not taking account of the fact that it will be expensive and unconvenient to send personnel to meetings, etc… Yet one another wrong decisions coming all the way from our rogue Eastern European friends…