Here’s a good idea. The European Commission is consulting on a single numbering service for businesses in Europe which have branches in more than one member state. They say: ‘improved harmonisation of numbering regimes… could help European manufacturers and retailers by facilitating sales, after-sales and customer enquiry services over a single Europe-wide number.’ In other words, if I need to ring up branches of the same law firm in France and Germany, I wouldn’t have to look up a new number. Firms would be able to advertise themselves with a single number throughout Europe.

As with many topics that seem dry and simple on their face, the consultation document makes clear that the numbering system for phones is nearly as rich a story as the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. For instance, there were efforts to introduce a Europe-wide code (like +44 for the UK, but in this case for Europe) in 2000, when the number +3883 was assigned to 24 European countries by the International Telecommunications Union or ITU , which administers the country code system. There was even a name for the new geographical area it would cover – the European telephony numbering space, or ETNS.

Regrettably, the ETNS never really took off - and the code has been reclaimed as of 31 December 2010 by ITU. This is despite the fact that on average prices for international calls within the EU are more than twice as high as those for national calls. Why did it never take off? Well, a number of reasons have been advanced (the large number of necessary interconnection agreements leading to high transaction costs, the difficulty of developing sustainable business plans, uncertainty about the level of tariffs charged), but it seems that it was principally because callers would be charged at a premium above that already imposed on international calls. So Dream Number 1 crashed to the ground.

I bet you have never heard of the ITU, the responsible body. It is a United Nations agency, and has control not only over international phone codes, but has in the past ‘coordinated the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoted international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, worked to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, established the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems and addressed the global challenges of our times, such as mitigating climate change and strengthening cybersecurity’. It does all of that out of Geneva.

There is nothing new in allocating a single code for EU businesses. On the internet, for instance, the '.eu' name, which was launched in 2006, has been a wild success. To date, over 3 million '.eu' names have been registered, making '.eu' Europe's fourth most popular country code Top Level Domain, and the ninth most popular worldwide. The strongest demand for ‘.eu’ domain names has so far come from Germany – and I hate to tell you that the Euro-sceptic United Kingdom lies in a very healthy third place.

There are also existing EU-wide numbers for other purposes: 112 is the EU-wide emergency number that you can ring in any EU member state (the EU equivalent of 999); and the 116 numbers deal with other kinds of emergency (for instance, 116000 is to be used to report missing children, although it is not yet operational in the UK). The the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe discussed some years ago the possibility of allocating a 116 number to people in need of legal advice anywhere in the EU, but the different national legal systems and structures posed logistical problems which we did not have the resources to resolve at that time. The commission is considering in the present consultation the allocation of 115 numbers to businesses, among other options.

If this were the only measure the EU is promoting to make the European economy competitive, it would be pathetic, but it is a small part of a great number of other initiatives. The consultation seems obviously of particular use to multi-jurisdictional law firms. Is a single number as useful for law firms as for other companies that sell across borders? How often do clients need to ring up multiple branches? Would clients in different countries of a law firm in the UK benefit from having a single European number to call, provided the rate was at that of a national call and not of an international one? The commission would like to know which activities would benefit from the single number. If you feel strongly, you have until 28 February 2011 to send in your answers.

Jonathan Goldsmith is the secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), which represents over 700,000 European lawyers through its member bars and law societies

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