Brussels, 30/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - “A successful digital policy can only be European and conducted in cooperation”, said Commissioner-designate for the Digital Economy and Society Gunther Oettinger during his hearing at the European Parliament on Monday 29 September. The questions put to him revolved around net neutrality, copyright, data protection and investment in infrastructure.
Overall, Oettinger - who has been criticised for his knowledge of digital issues and his lack of appetite for social networks - came over as well-prepared, although he sometimes just skated over certain issues like net neutrality (an issue dear to the European Parliament). Questions on network security did not provoke a more detailed response from Oettinger either. He did, however, have more to say on copyright reform - an issue that he has inherited and that, until now, has been handled by the commissioner for the internal market. “I am impressed by the quality of your understanding of the issues and by how intensely you defend your positions”, Oettinger said at the end of his hearing.
Europe is at the centre of a revolution. New technology will change the world be it in health, energy, culture, employment or education. The EU member states need to catch up on the USA and Asia, and action must be taken through regulation - or the lack of it, said Oettinger. “In the next three to six months, we will see what must - and what mustn't - be regulated at EU level; what must be regulated by the state or by industry”, he said. He underlined the development of digital infrastructure that must support the fast development of new technology. “The EU must confront this and have the budgets that are needed. Infrastructure for broadband internet is needed (…). Investment in infrastructure must enable growth. This is a fundamental pillar of digital policy”, he said, regretting the budget cut for digital infrastructure under the Connecting Europe Facility - a budget cut that has been voted through by the Council. Speaking about the important contribution of culture to growth and jobs, Oettinger said that his staff were going to work on “a draft law for copyright that is balanced in a digital context” between the rights of citizens to have easy access to culture and to creators, and other right-holders, who deserve fair payment for their work. “We must protect the creator appropriately so that these creators are still there tomorrow. On the other hand, those who use the digital world want to have access to all cultural products”, Oettinger stated.
On the Connected Continent package, Pilar de Castillo Vera (EPP, Spain), the rapporteur, asked Oettinger if he was going to support the Parliament when it has “a solid mandate”. She also asked if he was going to follow Neelie Kroes' policy on roaming - in other words, the phasing-out of charges. Roaming also interested Pavel Telicka (ALDE, Czech Republic), who spoke of the Council's reluctance to continue the reform. Oettinger wants to continue on the path mapped out by Kroes: “This is very important (…) for consumers. Roaming must disappear.” However, member states cannot be forced to progress as quickly. “They are aware of citizens' interests. We have to try to convince them”, he replied. For the S&D Group, Martina Werner (Germany) spoke about the need to encourage public and private investors to invest in cross-border infrastructure. Investment in networks was also of interest to Adina-Ioana Valean (EPP, Romania), who believes that the current framework is too regulated with, on the other hand, actors who take advantage of broadband without contributing to the expense. An environment is needed that favours investment in networks, that is intelligent and gives confidence to investors, and co-financing is needed with states and regions, said Oettinger, arguing for more flexible competition rules that do not hinder the financing of networks. Responding to a question from Hans-Olaf Henkel (ECR, Germany) on whether there is a need for a binding regulation in the digital domain, Oettinger asked for “six months for reflection to see where and what needs to be regulated”. He believed, moreover, that “Europe must be made with a minimum of regulation”. Several MEPs also spoke about the innovative potential of SMEs and start-ups (Angelika Milnar - ALDE, Austria) as well as the need to have European actors bigger in Europe (Miapetra Kumpula-Natri - S&D, Finland). In Oettinger's view, in Europe “two or three global players are needed otherwise we will not be able to penetrate international markets (…) and start-ups are needed”. He noted that some start-ups have the potential to become big international players.
The issue of net neutrality aroused questions aplenty (Michel Reimon - Greens/EFA, Austria, and German MEPs Petra Kammerevert - S&D, Julia Reda - Greens/EFA, Markus Pretzell - ECR). “Everything must be done so that no one is disadvantaged”, he said, while adding that, “when there is a common interest for all users and all citizens, and besides, when it is in the public interest like emergency situations there can be exceptions [to net neutrality] but not to respond to commercial interests”.
Questioned on the investigation into the anti-competitive practices of Google, Oettinger believes that it is not necessary to find a specific solution to Google but to find an overall solution, adding that the compromise found in February was insufficient. With a White Paper on copyright being expected this September, following the last consultation, Oettinger was questioned time and again on his intentions on this (Zdzislaw Krasnodebski - ECR, Poland, Isabella Adolfini - EFD, Italy, Jean-Marie Cavada - ALDE, France). “I will conduct a reform (…) so that content providers can deploy their activities and are encouraged to do so, and so that content creators see their potential for creativity released”, he promised. Oettinger does not want this in a hurry, stating that he would return “in a year or two with a balanced reform”.
As regards data protection, which also roused numerous questions, Oettinger believed that “fragmented national schemes for protection can easily be circumvented and no longer have any sense”. In his view, the proposal for a directive that is currently on the table will have to be put to consultation as quickly as possible. Answering a question on cloud computing from Evzen Tosenovsky (ECR, Czech Republic), Oettinger said that he had no draft legislation in view. As regards the right to be forgotten, a question posed by Martin Sonneborn (NI, Germany), Oettinger said that this right should be respected. Lastly, following a question from Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL, Portugal), Oettinger denied any close relationship with big economic groups. “This prejudice (…) is wrong. I am close to the citizens and their representatives (…) but we need industry”, Oettinger replied. (IL)