EU governments agreed on a general approach on data protection reform, paving the way for talks with the European Parliament and Commission that are set to begin June 24. The text would enshrine the "right to be forgotten" and set limits on the use of online profiling. The European Parliament, which adopted its own position in March 2014 (see 1403130077), said it's ready to tackle what it expects will be tough negotiations. The Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council's consensus prompted concerns from high-tech, digital advertising, consumer and privacy groups, but strong backing from telecom and mobile operators.
Dugie Standeford
Dugie Standeford, European Correspondent, Communications Daily and Privacy Daily, is a former lawyer. She joined Warren Communications News in 2000 to report on internet policy and regulation. In 2003 she moved to the U.K. and since then has covered European telecommunications issues. She previously covered the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and intellectual property law matters. She has a degree in psychology from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
Political compromise remains elusive on net neutrality provisions in the telecom single market (TSM) package, and the ball is now in the European Parliament's court, the EU Latvian presidency said at a webcast Telecom Council meeting Friday. The presidency has "tried to do everything we can" to reach agreement with lawmakers, but "compromise still has to be found," said Latvian Transport Minister Andrijs Matiss. Government officials also approved conclusions on the transfer of Internet Assigned Number Authority functions to the multistakeholder community. Meanwhile, a study for European telecom regulators said the net neutrality debate has failed to consider what consumers really want.
Net neutrality was such a polarizing issue that participants at a Friday European Dialogue on Internet Governance session in Sofia, Bulgaria, struggled to agree on how to move forward on a draft statement on it. The webcast discussion on how the open Internet can coexist with new Internet Protocol services brought together representatives from the European Parliament, a national telecom regulator, a network operator, academia and a digital rights group. There was some agreement on what net neutrality principles should be, but no one seemed happy with the statement prepared by a working group.
Efforts to resolve the impasse between national governments and the European Parliament over EU net neutrality rules appeared to stall Tuesday as negotiators once again failed to agree on provisions in the proposed telecom single market (TSM) package. The stand-off between the two EU institutions could eventually spell the demise of the TSM, said some following the situation. But an EU diplomatic source said the two sides are moving closer. The legislative package looks likely to be shunted to the incoming Luxembourg EU Presidency, which takes office July 1.
Google and other digital industry players have increased European lobbying spending, according to our review of public records and interviews with industry lawyers. And U.S. telecom companies each spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on European lobbying last year. Though it coincided with the digital single market (DSM) and "connected continent" debates, lawyers said it's unclear whether those policy debates caused increased high-tech lobbying spending. Lobbying registrations also are up.
EU governments could be close to an agreement with the European Parliament on net neutrality provisions in the telecom single market (connected continent) legislative package, an EU diplomatic source said Wednesday. Net neutrality is one of the two main legal arguments in the debate over advertising blocking by ISPs and mobile operators, Hogan Lovells (Paris) telecom lawyer Winston Maxwell told us. Ad blocking could turn out to be a boon to users and spur a rethink of ads in general, said Roslyn Layton, a fellow at Denmark's Aalborg University Center for Communications, Media and Information Technologies.
The digital single market (DSM) strategy won't directly benefit the Internet gambling industry, said industry officials in interviews this week. It may signal a small political step forward, said European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA) Secretary General Maarten Haijer. The DSM, announced by the European Commission May 6 (see 1505060038), won't bar geo-blocking of gambling websites, leaving the sector subject to national laws and with "limited expectations," said Remote Gambling Association CEO Clive Hawkswood. Any effort to get online gambling included in the services to be covered by the DSM will face strong resistance from EU governments, said Global Betting & Gaming Consultants CEO Warwick Bartlett.
LONDON -- Telecom regulators must be "conscious of our fallibility" as they adapt regulations to future and changing circumstances, said Anthony Whelan, director-electronic communications, networks and services for the European Commission Directorate-General Connect, at Wednesday's Digital Regulation Forum. Regulators are trying to figure out what regulation will look like in 2020 and beyond, he and Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) Chairwoman Fátima Barros said. The conference heard Tuesday that the net neutrality debate is raging in the U.K. (see 1504280001).
LONDON -- EU politicians are "bewitched" by net neutrality, but the current debate won't lead to desired outcomes, said Centre for European Policy Studies Senior Researcher Andrea Renda Tuesday at the Digital Regulation Forum. The subject is still alive and unresolved in Europe and the U.S., said regulators, analysts, companies and a consumer representative.
The European Commission will consider possible regulation of online platforms such as search engines and social media as part of its digital single market (DSM) strategy, it said in an April 21 leaked draft document, an updated version of which was given to us Thursday. Telecom operators increasingly compete with other services that users substitute for traditional e-communications services, such as VoIP, "without being subject to the same regulatory regime," the EC said. Online platforms are playing a more central role in social and economic life, raising concerns about their growing market power, it said. The core issue in the DSM strategy is whether Europe's current "ex ante" regulatory regime will be extended to over-the-top players and/or cable companies, Brussels telecom lawyer David Cantor said. Doing so could put Europe out of touch with the rest of the world, said Bird & Bird (London) information technology and business attorney Roger Bickerstaff.