EU: Negotiators reach an in-principle agreement on Connected Continent
- On 30 June, negotiators struck a provisional deal on the proposed Connected Continent package that will enshrine net neutrality rules in law and end roaming surcharges.
- The net neutrality rules will ensure that there is no blocking or throttling of online content, applications and services across the EU. The Commission underlined that every EU citizen must have access to the Open Internet, with all services being delivered via a high-quality Internet. Under the rules, all traffic will be treated equally. There can be no paid prioritisation of traffic in the Internet access service. However, equal treatment will allow reasonable day-to-day traffic management, for example to counter cyber-attacks or prevent traffic congestion. Operators would also be allowed to offer non-Internet services (e.g. broadband-TV). However, they need to ensure the general quality of Internet connection.
- The details of the in-principle agreement will need to be fine-tuned and approved formally by each negotiating party. It is expected that these ratifications will be scheduled in September, but no specific dates have been set yet.
- Commenting on the outcome of the negotiations, MEP Marietje Schaake (ALDE, the Netherlands) stated that despite the remaining problems, consumers will benefit from the new framework. While during the negotiations all parties had to compromise, the future challenge is to work on a more ambitious EU Digital Single Market, Schaake underlined. La Quadrature du Net deplored the agreement, stating that the very positive text on net neutrality adopted by the European Parliament in April 2014 has become more ambiguous and weaker.
EU: Net neutrality enforcement will be national
- According to media analysis, should the proposed net neutrality rules be approved as drafted, the way the rules will be policed is set to vary considerably across the EU.
- It is understood that enforcement will be based on a three-layer approach. First of all, national telecom regulators will have the power to collect information from Internet access providers to ensure that consumers are delivered the service they subscribed for. The regulators will be entitled to oblige operators to provide consumers with information on traffic management, including details on the minimum, normally available and advertised download and upload speeds of a broadband line. Berec, the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications, will issue guidance on how national regulators should enforce the rules.
- A second layer of enforcement will be based on national consumer rights provisions as a means to penalise operators for non-compliance. Lastly, Member States will lay down penalties rules which the Commission wants effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The national penalty regimes shall be notified to the Commission by 30 April 2016.
