Net Neutrality finally in Europe

Net Neutrality in Europe

May 25, 2011 is a deadline for all 27 Member States of the European Union for provisions - of revised EU regulatory framework - to be transposed into national regulations.

Why the new EU Regulatory Framework is so important? The amended telecoms framework adopted in 2009 favours the preservation of the open and neutral character of the Internet, which safeguard users' rights to access and distribute information online and ensure transparency about traffic management.

Under the revised rules, national telecoms regulatory authorities are required to promote the ability of end users to access and distribute information or run applications and services of their choice (Article 8 of the Framework Directive). This is supported by new transparency requirements (Article 21 of the Universal Service Directive).

When subscribing to a service and in case of any changes thereafter, consumers will be informed about:

• conditions limiting access to and/or use of services and applications, in conformity with Union law,
• procedures put in place by the provider in order to measure and shape traffic so as to avoid filling or overfilling a network link, and how these may impact on service quality,
• minimum service quality levels offered, namely the time for the initial connection and, where appropriate, other quality of service parameters, as defined by the national regulatory authorities, 

Thanks to the new Universal Service Directive, safeguards for preserving the open and neutral character of the internet are provided for in the regulatory framework and NRAs should avail themselves of the provisions under Article 22 and set appropriate minimum quality of service requirements, where they are made aware of degradation of service, hindering or slowing down of traffic over networks.

The following regulations are to be transposed into national regulation no later than May 25, 2011:

• Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services, Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws;
• Directive 2009/140/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 amending Directives 2002/21/EC on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, 2002/19/EC on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities, and 2002/20/EC on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and services

Are those regulations already transposed…? The answer is… NO. It’s European Union and national administrations are not - let’s say - “effective”. European Commission will review the results of the new regulations by November 2011, so we may expect that majority (?) of Member States will implement majority (?) of the new regulations by November…