Judgment_paragraph 51 · Eircom Limited v Commission for Communications Regulation (C-494/21)

51In that regard, as has been noted in paragraph 45 above, the availability, throughout the European Union, of good-quality publicly available services through effective competition and choice is the main objective of the Universal Service Directive, according to Article 1(1) thereof. In so far as the deterioration in the competitive position of a universal service provider on account of the unfair nature of the burden imposed on that provider by virtue of its universal service obligations would adversely affect effective competition in the relevant market, such a circumstance would be liable to undermine the conditions for providing the universal service and, ultimately, the achievement of that objective.