Why do the Brits have such difficulty with the European Community? It all comes down to a fundamental difference of attitude to the rule of law – the British ethos demands that one scream blue murder while something unappealing is proposed, but once a still distasteful compromise is agreed, to knuckle down and obey the new law – whereas right across the continent, the preferred approach is affirm commitment to controversial measures while having absolutely no intention of enforcing the law when it is enacted: so it is that July 1, 1990 was supposed to be a milestone in European telecommunications history, notes the Teleputing Hotline – the date should have marked the day when any European citizen had a choice of hardware when buying telephones, modems and other low-end telecommunications equipment – but only seven of the 12 member states have implemented anything like a free market for such equipment and telephone users in Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain must still buy their first phone from the state PTT, while similar restrictions on modems still apply in Belgium and Spain.
