Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton announced on Tuesday 10 October that the Commission was working on legislation on digital networks to “redefine the DNA” of EU telecoms regulation.
“It will not be easy but – as we have done on other game-changing proposals – we will not shy away from doing what is needed to achieve a paradigm shift in digital regulation”, he said.
This future legislative proposal, which could be put forward before the summer of 2025, should be based in part on the broad lines drawn from the results of the consultation carried out by the Commission - also published on 10 October - on the future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure.
The focus was to be on facilitating cross-border telecommunications operations and creating pan-European infrastructure operators. “Pan-European operation of core networks and network slices is the technical solution that technology offers today to make it happen. We need to remove all obstacles to rolling out this and upcoming innovative solutions and have a discussion on how to address legitimate questions on security, data retention, etc.”, added Mr Breton on the LinkedIn social network.
In addition, work should be carried out on how to mobilise more capital, including private capital, given that the European Commission’s first progress report on the implementation of the programme for the digital decade, published on 27 September, indicated that the EU, without sufficient investment, could miss the objectives it has set itself (see EUROPE 13259/3).
According to the Internal Market Commissioner, the Commission’s future proposal should also seek to make the regulatory framework more flexible and cut red tape. “With the Gigabit Infrastructure Act (see EUROPE 13251/13), we have laid the grounds for this work, focusing on the last mile of networks. We now need a more global approach. This means looking, first and foremost, into spectrum management, which for too long has been used by some governments as a cash cow and taken away funds from investments”, he summarised.
Future legislation could also include a section devoted to securing networks so that the EU retains control over decision-making in strategic sectors such as connectivity, and avoids interference from third countries.
See the results of the consultation: https://aeur.eu/f/90e (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)