European telecoms ministers ended their morning meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday 8 June by discussing in turn draft legislation to project personal data, connectivity, cybersecurity and the European Commission’s renewed strategic framework.
On the question of the draft regulation to ensure respect of privacy and personal data in electronic communications, the ministers took note of a progress report prepared by the Maltese Presidency (see EUROPE 11803). Sweden, Denmark and Slovenia warned of the dangers of wanting to do much in too short a timeframe (Ansip had earlier described the plans as ‘ambitious’). They fear that the proposed application date (25 May 2018) will not leave enough time for service suppliers to adjust.
On the question of connectivity, the ministers welcomed the agreement reached at the end of May on the Wifi4EU initiative, for which €1.2 billion is foreseen to create wireless access points in 6,000 – 8,000 communities across the EU by 2020. Sweden regretted the absence of an impact study on competitiveness and the desire to invest.
During the discussion about the mid-term review of the strategy for a single digital market (see EUROPE 11785), many member states backed the European Commission’s ambitions for the free circulation of data. France, thus far the main opponent of this initiative, called for ‘vigilance’ because the timeline does not give enough time to set up a binding framework, explained the French digital minister, Mounir Mahjoubi, referring also to talks about copyright. He defended the idea of setting up European certification of the security of devices sold in the EU when the European Commission presents its cybersecurity strategy. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)