Luxembourg, 12/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Union's Telecoms Council in Luxembourg on Friday 12 June is awaiting tangible proposals from the European Parliament on the two outstanding issues in the package of draft legislation on the single telecoms market, viz. roaming and internet neutrality, said Latvian transport minister Anrijs Mattis. The Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU would like to reach rapid agreement with the EP ahead of the European Summit on 25 and 26 June.
In order to make progress and while awaiting new proposals from the EP after the breakdown of the third trialogue talks on 2 June (see EUROPE 11328), the Latvian Presidency added a working breakfast meeting on roaming and neutrality to the Council agenda. The Presidency was rather put out at the European Parliament's attitude and its refusal to budge, while the Council is prepared to make compromises vis-a-vis its initial position.
Mattis said the Latvian Presidency had invested a lot and they were close to a final agreement, but the EP must now demonstrate its commitment as the Council is open to a compromise and the member states are prepared to show more flexibility. Digital Economy Commissioner Günther Oettinger congratulated the member states on their commitment, saying that a large number of them favoured the end of roaming charges. He said the Council had done its work and the ball was now in the EP's court.
- Roaming. The talks at the Telecoms Council revealed a consensus among the member states to set a date for the scrapping of roaming charges at some point between 2015 (as desired by the EP) and 2018 (as desired by the Council). Mattis pointed out, however, that the ministers didn't want an agreement at any price, without guarantees. The Council explains that it will not accept a compromise whereby the coverage of operators' costs is below operators' cost price because there would be the risk of prices going up for domestic calls. The ministers say the EP must consider the risks for national markets and show more commitment and clarity on these points because operators cannot work at a loss and the functioning of the retail and wholesale markets has to be analysed and transition prices set. The Council says that if the EP is prepared to make concessions too, then a rapid compromise on roaming might be reached.
- Internet neutrality. The talks seem more relaxed on internet neutrality. The Council says it wants an open internet to be established. The intermediary work done by the Latvian Presidency in recent weeks was crucial, explained Mattis, because beforehand the negotiating positions were much further apart. The member states' viewpoints have now aligned sufficiently for the Council to be able to agree on a common definition of web neutrality, explains the presidency.
The timer is running now for the Council and EP to reach broad agreement on the telecoms package at the fourth trialogue meeting. The technical meeting scheduled for Monday 15 June was cancelled upon the request of the EP, which says it needs more time to finalise its negotiating position. Commissioner Oettinger says he will act as a mediator and will meet the EP rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs on Monday 15 and Tuesday16 June. “We will pull out the stops to make progress,” he said. (Isabelle Lamberty)