The Council of the EU is preparing at the meeting of telecommunications ministers on Monday 4 December to adopt its negotiating position on the reform of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). Unsurprisingly, it has no intention of turning his body into an executive agency of the EU.
Adoption of the negotiating position will be the meeting’s only legislative development. The remainder of the day will be devoted to a round table discussion on the free flow of non-personal data and briefings by the Estonian Presidency on a number of issues.
General approach on BEREC. In September 2016, the European Commission proposed modernisation of telecommunications rules, which had last been amended in 2009 (see EUROPE 11624). This modernisation, that was, inter alia, to ensure the roll out of 5G in all urban areas by 2025, revolved around two legislative proposals: a directive on the electronic communications code and a regulation strengthening the powers of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).
The member states seem to be agreed on strengthening the independence of BEREC but they do not support making its decisions binding, as the Commission proposed. Thus, they remove the idea of a “board of appeal” responsible for investigating complaints from natural or legal persons. More generally, the member states get back to basics on the structure of the body: they refuse to merge BEREC and the BEREC Office (which should, they say, remain in Riga) and they introduce a clause stating that the BEREC Office staff should be strictly limited to the number required for the performance of its duties.
Discussions and state of play. At their meeting in Brussels, ministers will hold a policy debate on the draft regulation on of the free flow of non-personal data. The proposal is for a ban on national rules which currently impose restrictions on companies where data are stored or processed, unless they can be justified by reasons of public safety. The Presidency will ask ministers for their thoughts on how to ensure the proposal best meets their needs and how to promote the rapid, effective exchange of data for the purposes of regulatory control. Ministers will also be asked to give their views on the proportionality of the definitions and the exemptions contained in the proposal.
They will also discuss progress made on the proposal on privacy rules for electronic communications (see EUROPE 11700). The progress report they will be given shows, for example, that work remains to be done on the software privacy parameters, on direct marketing communications and directories accessible to the public (see EUROPE 11912). The report also shows progress made on the link with the general data protection regulation (GDPR), machine-to-machine communications and supervisory authorities. A final meeting of the TELE working group will take place under the Estonian Presidency on 11 December and will be devoted to privacy parameters and data processing and storage.
The Presidency will also update ministers on the state of play in negotiations on a the European Electronic Communications code, the roadmap on 5G frequency bands and the draft Council action plan on cybersecurity. The incoming Bulgarian Presidency will present its priorities for its term of office.
The working lunch will be devoted to the financing of digital infrastructure and obstacles to investment, as part of discussions on the new multiannual financial framework. The general approach can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/2zDoXrF (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)