Brussels, 22/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - While negotiations on the connected continent are in the doldrums in the Council of Ministers, Digital Economy Commissioner Günther Oettinger and the president in office of the Council, Latvian Minister Anrjis Matiss, met the ministers and secretaries of state for digital issues over an informal dinner to gauge the positions of each. The European Commission is growing impatient and would like to see trialogue talks opened with the European Parliament as it plans to set out its digital strategy in May. Those attending the meeting discussed roaming and net neutrality, the two points that are still at the heart of debates. Comments have been positive, said a source close to the Commission and Oettinger tweeted his delight at the “success” of the meeting, the ministers present agreeing on the need to conclude on the telecoms single market to move on to a wider aim.
The Latvian minister set out a road map for the ministers focusing on roaming and net neutrality, the two sensitive issues in this area. On roaming, the Presidency proposed a new model “roam like at home plus” which will no longer see roaming charges disappear in the EU but will reduce them to the strict minimum (0.05 cents per minute compared with 0.19 cents at present). On net neutrality, the member states could come to agreement on the main principles related to non-discrimination, with the possibility, for access providers, to propose “specialised services” at higher rates for higher bandwidth services such as Netflix. Following the dinner, Matiss hailed the “general support” of ministers for his proposals. Technical level discussions will continue until the end of February and ministers might meet informally again in March to hone a position for the next Telecoms Council which will allow the Council Presidency to begin talks with the Parliament. The Commission's “project team” responsible for digital strategy, that is the commissioners involved in the digital strategy, will meet on 28 January to discuss the broad thrust of the strategy which will be presented in May. This team of commissioners met for the first time in November. A meeting specifically on copyright will also be held the same day. Discussions will be chaired by Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip. The previous day, 27 January, Ansip will travel to France for meetings with digital players, in particular start-up entrepreneurs. (IL)