On Tuesday 24 October, communications ministers endorsed the conclusions of the European summit establishing a precise timetable for completing the digital single market. The United Kingdom, Malta and Croatia, however, rejected speeding up work on the protection of privacy in electronic communications (ePrivacy), as called for by Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip at the start of the meeting.
This Council meeting, called exceptionally at the request of a number of heads of state and/or government, was looking to identify measures to be taken in order to be able to adopt all the digital proposals by 2018 and the tasks that fall specifically within the remit of telecommunications ministers. The conclusions of 19 October call on the joint legislators to reach agreement on geo-blocking, audio-visual media services and parcel delivery “by the end of 2017” and on the free flow of non-personal data proposal and the electronic communications code “by June 2018”. In Luxembourg, Ansip added to this agenda by urging ministers to reach agreement on ePrivacy and the free flow of data at the Council on 5 December.
Wishes in Council. In the general comments at the start of the meeting, ministers were, overall, committed to this timetable, not hesitating to consider more meetings. The Luxembourg prime minister and telecommunications minister argued that “Telecoms Council meetings every three or four months rather than two or three times a year, is what we really want to make progress”. Germany said that it was not against this proposal, on condition that it delivered definite decisions.
Beyond this matter of form, delegations one after the other highlighted their respective priorities, with most pointing to the new electronic communications code. Germany which, at the European summit, had lobbied particularly strongly for the inclusion of a reference to coordinated action to increase “availabilities of spectrum by 2020” reiterated this message, adding that the slowest should not be allowed to hold back the others. More closely coordinated management of the spectrum was also backed by Poland and Sweden, while the Czech Republic called for infrastructure modernisation and Spain wanted better processing of state aid in this area. Croatia said that the recent agreement on the code was “a good starting point but not the end point”, while Romania called for the provisions on the responsibilities of national authorities and on access to the new networks to be protected in trialogue meetings with the Parliament.
Doubts over ePrivacy. For the remainder, Croatia and the United Kingdom tempered the ambitious ePrivacy timetable spoken about by Ansip, arguing for quality rather than celerity. The European Parliament is likely, on 26 October, to cast doubt over the negotiating mandate obtained by Marju Lauristin (S&D, Estonia) (see EUROPE 11887). Finland and Luxembourg have both expressed concerns at the turn the discussions on audiovisual rules have taken, potentially leading to “over-regulation”, according to the Finnish delegation.
Also of note was that not a word was spoken on the proposals on copyright and online sales. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)