Portugal’s taxpayers have had to fund a €3 million fine due to the government's deliberate failure to open up the telecoms market to competition, leaving Portugal Telecom in a monopoly position.
The fine relates to 2003, according to the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications.
"A fixed amount has been paid by the State," said Sérgio Monteiro, when asked today about talks with Brussels on the overdue payment of the fine imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
On top of the lump sum, since June this year the government has been paying a daily penalty of €10,000 as it has dithered over stumping up the €3 million fine.
The European Court judgment in 2010 concerned the liberalisation of the telecommunications market in Portugal and should have seen PT lose its monopoly and the market opened up to other companies not owned, or part owned by PT.
This Portugal failed to do as back in 1995 the Portuguese Government had signed a contract with Portugal Telecom that guaranteed the company a monopoly.
The contract was valid until 2025, but the liberalisation of the telecoms market across Europe in 2003 stipulated that EU member countries should deregulate all 'universal service' deals.
The fact that Portugal did nothing led Brussels to launch a legal challenge, culminating with a first conviction of the Portuguese State by the European Court in October 2010.
Since then and despite pressure from the European Commission under the Troika adjustment programme, Portugal only managed to launch a new tendering process to deregulate the market in October 2012 and the repeal of the original PT deal only came into force in June 2014.
The Court considered the delay by Portugal in implementing the judgment as "excessive" and now the taxpayer is €3 million poorer.
There has been no apology issued by the government for wasting these scarce funds.
