Jean-Claude Juncker, campaigning to be next president of the European Commission (EC), appears to favour a shake-up of EU anti-trust rules that would make it easier for consolidation among Europe’s operators.

A leading candidate in the race for the presidency, Juncker, quoted by the Financial Times, said the “first thing we should do is re-think the application of our competition rules in digital markets.”

Juncker seems to take the view that since moves are being made to scrap roaming charges across the 28 EU member states, then it makes little sense to block mergers of operators that have a presence in more than one market.

“If we ask companies to offer their networks and services no longer only nationally, but on a continental scale, we should in my view also apply EU competition law with a continental spirit,” he said.

Greater consolidation, of course, holds out the promise of better economies of scale. It has been a common complaint among Europe’s mobile operators that competition is too fierce, which hurts profitability.

In March, Anne Bouverot, director general of GSMA, sent an open letter to commissioner Neelie Kroes, VP of the European Commission, setting out the industry association’s view of the “key success factors” needed to create an effective EU telecoms single market.

One of those factors is the “evolution of Europe’s antitrust framework to support market driven restructuring and consolidation”. This would be necessary, argued GSMA, in order to “redefine the investment climate” and “drive Europe’s competitiveness”.

Despite having the world’s highest unique subscriber penetration rate at 80 per cent, GSMA Intelligence reports that Europe is the only region to see revenues decline – from €162 billion in 2010 to €142 billion in 2013.

GSMA’s letter was endorsed by the CEOs of Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, TeliaSonera, VimpelCom and Vodafone, as well as the deputy chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Europe.

Juncker’s comments come at a time when the EC is considering whether to allow national consolidation among mobile network operators in Germany and Ireland.