reading old reports from the commission, many obstacles have been known since ..., well for a long time, and have been considered to be a problem within the EU aka ECC to foster the telecom market.

...handicaps which beset the Community: (as seen in 1983)

• compartmentalized market which stunt supply and demand;
• the uncertainty of carriers and companies over what development strategies to put in hand;
• weakness in the fundamental technologies of telecommunications;
• backwardness of less favoured areas in respect of networks, equipment, and advanced telecommunications services. | com(84) 277 final, Brussels, 18th May 1984

Member States at that time: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom and Greece.

and who oversaw the process ...?¿