Brussels, 17/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 17 November, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to ensure the “neutrality of the internet” and highlighted the need for everybody to be able to have access to all contents and services in this connection. According to the resolution adopted by the EP, Parliament is urging the Commission “to ensure that internet service providers do not block, discriminate against, impair or degrade the ability of any person to use a service to access, use, send, post, receive or offer any content, application or service of their choice, irrespective of source or target”. In April, Commissioner Neelie Kroes underlined her determination to ensure that all citizens and companies in the EU benefited from an open and neutral internet, without any hidden restrictions and whose speed would comply with that promised by access providers
The Commission called on the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) to carry out a study, whose results will be published at the end of 2011. It also promised to take tough action if any failings were identified and, if needs be, introduce a number of complimentary legislative measures. The EP is calling on the Commission to “assess, within six months of publication of the findings of BEREC's investigation, whether further regulatory measures are needed in order to ensure freedom of expression, freedom of access to information, freedom of choice for consumers, and media pluralism, to achieve effective competition and innovation”.
On Wednesday, the Council and Commission replied to two oral questions on this theme from Herbert Reul and Malcolm Harbour. In his question on behalf of the industry, research and energy committee, Reul (EPP, Germany) raised the problem of the constant increase in data circulation (35% a year) and pointed out that “we're beginning to run out of space on the data highways and are in danger of quality diminishing”. He denounced the unequal processing of data by certain operators and the absence of uniform rules on network neutrality. Certain member states have already developed their own legislation and the objective is to establish some kind of uniformity in this area. Reul also underlined that it would be necessary to take into account the results of research undertaken by BEREC (Body of European regulators for electronic communications), which held its first meeting in January 2010.
British Conservative, Malcolm Harbour, the chair of the single market and consumer protection committee, said that the Commission did not appear to see any major problems in applying this package but wanted to know whether the reforms it contained would really change things in practice. This will involve guaranteeing consumers freedom of choice (the opportunity for changing services swiftly and with full access to the facts), as well as transparency regarding services on offer. In every member state, regulators will have to ensure that these principles are respected. They will be able to intervene on the market if they notice that users have been subject to discrimination (particularly with regard to false restrictions and the quality of services on offer). BEREC will have to ensure that these principles are respected.
Magdalena Gaj, speaking on behalf of the Council, pointed out that “telecommunications are the driving force of our economy and can help us find a crisis exit strategy”. She also defended the right of every citizen to direct internet access. The level of implementation for the raft of the reforms varies from one country to another but all users must be able to count on satisfactory and transparent information, as well as minimum rules on service quality. Sometimes irregular practice and discrimination has been observed and these issues have been the subject of heated debates in certain countries, particularly France and Poland. The situation warrants comprehensive analysis in collaboration with the actors, providers and operators who put content online. On 13 December, the Telecommunications Council will give its verdict on the Commission communication, in an attempt to establish a common approach.
Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Karel De Gucht, said that the existence of an open internet depends on market competitiveness, transparency and minimum quality conditions. The Commission has called on BEREC (all member states' representatives are part of this organisation) to carry out a monitoring exercise on voice-over services and service transparency. The Commission will decide on the appropriateness of whether stricter measures are required to guarantee openness and neutrality. If it is necessary to take action, this will be done on a coordinated Europe-wide level, based on conclusions deriving from the facts, concluded De Gucht.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP, Lambert van Nistelrooij, from the Netherlands said that broadband opened up a new world. He wanted to know whether new rules were necessary or whether it was just necessary to apply what already existed. Catherine Trautmann (S&D, France) has argued in favour of net transparency since 2009 but now considers that more needs to be done by providing operators with the resources to help towards establishing recovery, whilst respecting a key principle: basic internet quality should not be sacrificed to pay internet. She said that there should be no two-speed internet and, if necessary, there should be a binding text on the matter. Cristian Busoi (Romania, ALDE) admitted that it was necessary to manage traffic more effectively but without these becoming a pretext for introducing anti-competitive practices, such as blocking voice-over services in certain countries, as in the Netherlands. He deplored the fact that there were 27 “micro markets”, when the net was characterised by its extensive scale. Philippe Lambert (Greens/EFA, Belgium) agreed that a European legislative initiative was required. Speaking on behalf of the same group, Sandrine Bélier from France said that, if the internet respected certain rules, it could become a new area for democracy. (LC/LG/transl.fl)