Brussels, 03/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - Italian Secretary of State with responsibility for telecommunications Antonello Giacomelli set out the digital strategy priorities of the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU for the members of the European Parliament's ITRE committee on Tuesday 2 September.
He stressed the absolute necessity to complete the single digital market - as the common thread running through all the work of the Presidency - to improve web access and remove obstacles to communication, such as roaming charges. “What we want to do is to make Europe a genuine political and institutional issue that takes us to a genuine European digital policy”, he stated (our translation).
In summary, the Italian Presidency will focus on three areas: 1) the single digital market; 2) network and information security; 3) internet access and use. Raising the danger of an internet dominated by the US giants, Giacomelli said that it was essential to ensure equal treatment among service providers, no matter the platform used, so that there are no obstacles to the entry of small suppliers and thus guarantee a free and open internet for all. With regard to network security, he noted the shared will to work together, even though the positions of the member states may differ. While Commissioner Neelie Kroes is currently taking part in the Internet Governance Forum in Istanbul, arguing the European position (see other article), the Italian minister repeated the need to bring progress with ICANN, involving all stakeholders.
During the debate, Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy) expressed concern at the dominance of the American giants and asked if initiatives might be considered to bring fair competition in the digital domain. Giacomelli said that, in his view, either the market would find a balance itself by establishing of its own accord balanced rules, or the international institutions would decide to play a decisive role in establishing fair rules. In his view, the latter option was preferable. In response to the question from Marek Josef Grobarczyk (ECR, Poland) on the line of thought to be followed on internet management, the minister opined that the interest of users must be paramount with focus on the confidentiality of data. The internet does not only have a commercial dimension, it is also an instrument to be managed and to be monitored, and the institutions had to assume their responsibility, he added. Morten Helveg Petersen (ALDE, Denmark) highlighted the need to maintain efforts to ensure a free and open internet. Giacomelli concurred in this. Gianluca Buananno asked if there was not a need for high-level cooperation, both technical and operational, on cybersecurity. The NIS directive on network and data security was key and had to be adopted before the end of this presidency, the minister answered. A common framework against cyber-threats had to be put in place, he said, too, laying great emphasis on the notion of confidence for fruitful cooperation among states. He also reassured Pavel Telicka (ALDE, Czech Republic) who was concerned at possible softening of the Kroes proposal ultimately to get rid of roaming charges. It is important to make sure that all the member states share the same goal, a clear message has to be delivered on a common digital policy, concerted efforts have to be made to abolish virtual barriers to communication and also to support investment by operators in infrastructure, came the response.
Referring to the publication on social network sites of personal photos of celebrities resulting from a breach of security in Apple's iCloud system, Eva Kaili (S&D, Greece) asked how one could protect oneself against such events. In Giacomelli's view, all this is very revealing, there is not always a desire effectively to safeguard privacy. (IL)