Cap. 399 Art. 3Malta Communications Authority.

(1) The Malta Communications Authority established under the Malta Communications Authority Act shall be the competent authority to regulate electronic communications under this Act and, insofar as is provided in this Act, to enforce the provisions of this Act.

(2) The Authority shall have a separate annual budget which it shall implement autonomously, which budget shall be made public. The Authority shall be afforded adequate financial and human resources to carry out its functions under this Act and under any other applicable laws relating to electronic communications which the Authority is entitled to enforce, including such resources to enable the Authority to actively participate in and contribute to BEREC and to any functions related to international cooperation.

(3) In fulfilling its functions and duties under this Act and under any other laws relating to electronic communications which the Authority is entitled to enforce, the Authority shall actively support the goals of BEREC of promoting greater regulatory coordination and consistency in the application of the Electronic Communications Code, and shall also take the utmost account of the guidelines, opinions, recommendations, common positions, best practices and methodologies adopted by BEREC when the Authority is adopting decisions for national markets.

(4) In the exercise of its functions and duties under this Act and under any other laws relating to electronic communications which the Authority is entitled to enforce, the Authority shall take utmost account of the relevant European Commission recommendations. With reference to recommendations issued in accordance with Article 38 of the Electronic Communications Code, the Authority shall, if it chooses not to follow a recommendation, inform the European Commission, giving the reasons for its position.