Brussels, 27/08/2015 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Günther Oettinger, responsible for the Digital Economy, is pleased with the meeting he had with Internet rights activists and citizens and the EDRI and Accessnow organisations on Tuesday 25 August. Speaking on Twitter, the Commissioner said that this was “a good meeting” and was delighted that other meetings would follow. He added “We are aware of your analysis of the EU proposal on net neutrality. We aim for a balanced approach”.
EDRI Director Joe McNamee said that the talks had been “polite” and that the Commissioner had been attentive to the arguments made by representatives from the different organisations, which called for a significant strengthening in Internet neutrality contained within European legislation. According to these representatives, the provisions recently adopted at an EU level on net neutrality are too vague to ensure that telecom operators do not breach the rules of equal treatment for Internet traffic. EDRI and Accessnow are calling for greater clarity from the European Commission, as well as guidelines on how it should work with European telecom regulators on this aspect. The Commissioner said that he was “open to changes” and indicated that he would again raise the question of net neutrality with EDRI and Accessnow, as well as questions relating to data protection and cyber security.
It should be pointed out that the Council of Ministers and European Parliament reached an agreement at the end of June on roaming and net neutrality, the two points in the “Telecoms Package” that were still creating disagreement (see EUROPE 11354). The agreement still needs to be formally approved by the Council and the EP this autumn. With regard to net neutrality, the agreement stipulates that Internet users should be free to access the content of their choice and should no longer be unfairly blocked or slowed down. The measures outlined, however, will not prevent access providers proposing specialised services of a higher quality, as well as new innovative applications, as long as these services do not impact negatively on the quality of basic Internet services. (Isabelle Lamberty)