Arcep’s independence from the different market stakeholders is vital to ensuring fair regulation. This independence is protected by the way in which the seven members of the Arcep Executive Board are appointed:
- three of them are appointed by the President of France,
- two by the President of the National Assembly,
- and two by the President of the Senate.
The members of the Board are appointed for an irrevocable and non-renewable six-year term of office, which is incompatible with any other professional activity, national elected office or public sector job. Arcep adopted a code of ethics in 2007. Furthermore, since the adoption of the Act on Transparency in Public Life on 11 October 2013, Executive Board members are required to declare their assets and financial interests.
A Code of Ethics for Arcep staff was adopted in 2007
The Arcep Chair is appointed by the President of France, acting on a proposal from the Prime Minister. Since the adoption of legislation on the Television of the Future on 5 March 2007, this appointment takes place after having received the opinions of the competent parliamentary committees: The National Assembly Committee on Economic Affairs, the Environment and Regional Development, and the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs.
The current Executive Board
Executive Board bodies and duties
To ensure a separation of powers, and following the Constitutional Council’s temporary nullification of Arcep’s power to impose penalties in 2013, the Government re-established and safeguarded these powers in the postal and electronic communications sectors in an Order adopted on 12 March 2014. Since then, pursuant to the provisions of Article L. 130 of the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE), three distinct bodies within the Board now fulfil Arcep’s different responsibilities:
- the plenary body, composed of the seven members of the Executive Board, deliberates on all decisions and opinions, except for decisions where the Law expressly assigns that power to one of the other Arcep bodies (Decisions adopted under CPCE Articles L. 5-3, L. 5-4, L. 5-5, L.5-9, L. 32-4, L. 36-8 and L. 36-11);
- the body responsible for settling disputes, legal proceedings and investigations (referred to in French as “RDPI”), is composed of four of the seven Board members, including the Arcep Chair. It adopts decisions on investigations, inquiries and dispute settlements, as well as decisions on proceedings carried out as part of a penalty procedure – launching a procedure, issuing the formal notice, statement of objections (Decisions adopted under Paragraphs I and II of CPCE Article L. 5-3, CPCE Articles L. 5-4, L. 5-5, L. 5 9, L. 32-4 and L. 36-8 and Paragraphs I, II and IV of CPCE Article L. 36-11);
- Lastly, the restricted body, composed of the three most recently appointed members of the Arcep Board, excluding the Chairman, deliberates on decisions to impose or not impose penalties (Decisions adopted under Paragraphs III and V of CPCE Article L. 5-3 and Paragraphs III and VI of CPCE Article L. 36-11).
The Decree that sets out the rules of penalty procedures was published in the Official Journal of 3 August 2014.
Arcep’s operating rules (pdf - 480 Kb) (notably on holding sessions and presenting cases) were revised to ensure compliance with new legislative provisions.