Agreement on EU Telecom Package Inches Ahead

There will be a new authority, the Body of European Regulators in Electronic Communications, Reding said. It will replace the European Regulators Group and be an independent expert adviser at the EU level, she said. The EC and the new regulators’ body will “have a say” over orders made by national regulatory authorities, Reding said. The European officials can require a national authority to withdraw a proposed remedy and can make a recommendation on the subject to the 27 member countries, she said. Two years later, the European authorities can order all EU countries to adopt a harmonized rule, she said. And national authorities will be able to order functional separation -- tell a dominant telecom company to split its network and services arms, to promote competition, Reding said.

Negotiators also agreed to codify principles of technology and service neutrality in EU law and to make spectrum management more flexible, Reding said. The new rules will reaffirm that in the buildout of next-generation networks, principles of competition law, access obligations and nondiscrimination apply “without any reservation,” she said.

Reding praised the Czech presidency of the EU for accomplishing its goal of “Europe without barriers,” including by brokering the regulatory overhaul deal despite turmoil within the Czech government. Interior Minister Ivan Langer was a bit more reserved, telling reporters that “this is still an ongoing process” with some matters open. Langer said he’s hopeful of an agreement. “We're very much encouraged by developments” Monday, a Czech government spokesman told us. They represented a major step forward and offer hope that the package will be completed, he said.

Reding said the outstanding issues are unresolved matters in the report by Malcolm Harbour -- a European parliament member from the U.K. and the European People’s Party/European Democrats -- on consumer protection, universal service and privacy in e-communications. Langer asked reporters to “please be patient” and wait for the outcome of Thursday’s talks. If this week’s negotiations are successful, parliamentary committees could approve the agreement in late April in advance of a May plenary vote, officials said.

Monday’s talks removed some of the biggest stumbling blocks, but government representatives were to take on three “quite explosive” political issues Wednesday, an official said. One is the power of network providers to cut off service without a court order, the so-called “three-strikes” approach being discussed in France, the person said. The second involves national concerns about the proposal for a coordinated approach to allocating digital-dividend spectrum the source said. There is also an issue, put on the table by Germany, relating to risk-sharing in the rollout of next- generation networks, the source said.

Consumer issues still to be resolved are number portability, broadband Internet access, caller location, guaranteed access to emergency and “social value” phone numbers and data security breach notifications, said a spokesman for parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee. There are also problems with the final wording of several provisions, he said.

Net-neutrality matters, such as access to VoIP, are a crucial topic, but “that doesn’t mean that there is a negotiation” on three-strikes policy, the spokesman said. The issue is “linked to the net-neutrality principle,” but it wasn’t part of the legislative project and hasn’t been put in the text, he said. Nor is it part of the council’s common position, he added. In September, though, parliament adopted an amendment barring restrictions on users’ fundamental rights and freedoms without prior judicial authority except where public security is threatened, he said. This amendment is considered to be a reaction to French three-strikes policy and remains an area of disagreement with governments, he added.

Users’ rights have taken a back seat to more “politically salient” parts of the regulatory package, Harbour told us. The civil liberties committee Tuesday voted its second-reading position on the issues and on amendments it wants the council to consider, he said. The most difficult topic remains the scope of the proposed data breach notification provisions, which the EC wants applied only to communications providers and he wants applied to all online data controllers, Harbour said.

Telecommunications ministers also debated e-access this week. They urged the EC to encourage governments to keep e- inclusion as a priority, to continue funding e-accessibility programs with EU money and to support efforts to develop guidance and best practices at the European level. They asked countries to support multichannel delivery of public services and free access to public information, help make ICT products affordable to end-users and include accessibility provisions in their procurement practices.

Officials also exchanged views on the effect of the financial downturn on information and communication technologies, Langer said. Nearly all agreed that the technology is a driving force for economic growth and that they must encourage not only broadband penetration but also its uptake and the growth of new services, he said. They will study how to ease the burden on businesses through e- government and Europe-wide electronic-identity systems, he said.