Will the European Parliament Give Up On Protecting a Free Internet?

Paris, 29 September, 2011 — The European Parliament’s proposed resolution on Net Neutrality is very weak and reflects the strong influence of telecom operators. Sadly, even though several tabled amendments aim for real protection of Net neutrality, leading MEPs so far fail to propose enforceable principles to prevent telcos from discriminating online communications. Will the power of lobbyists such as of AT&T override the European Union’s objective to protect its citizens’ online fredoms?

Amendments to the weak draft Net neutrality resolution by the European Parliament’s committee on Industry, Transport, Research and Energy (ITRE) have been published¹La Quadrature has graded the amendments: https://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Network_Neutrality_resolution_amendments. Quite shockingly, none of the leading MEPs on this dossier seems to realize how pressing the issue is. Neither Lambert van Nistelrooij (conservative), Catherine Trautmann (socialist) nor Jen Rohde (liberal), have dared request concrete measures from the Commission to ensure that telecom operators abide by Net Neutrality.

Yet, a strong policy in favour of non-discrimination of online communications is absolutely necessary to guarantee citizens’ rights to free communication, competition and innovation. Evidence is already widely available that European operators engage in harmful practices, as demonstrated by citizen reports of dozens of breaches to Net neutrality on the RespectMyNet.eu platform²www.RespectMyNet.eu.

While some of their members are ready to stick to the status quo defended by powerful industrial actors like AT&T (which doesn’t operate a network in the EU and is about to end unlimited access in the US³See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/apr/01/net-neutrality-mobilephones), the socialist (S&D), the liberals (ALDE) and conservative (EPP) groups are actually very divided. Very constructive amendments have also been tabled by members from each of these groups⁴See the following amendments:

• Amendment 6 from Marietje Schaake.
• Amendment 14 from Petra Kammerveret and Matthias Groote.
• Amendment 15 from Petra Kammerveret and Matthias Groote.
• Amendment 41 fromIvo Belet.
• Amendment 65 from Petra Kammerveret and Matthias Groote.

“The ongoing discussion on the proposed Net Neutrality resolution will proceed with back-room negotiations of ‘compromise amendments’. MEPs who really care for online freedoms have an opportunity to make a strong call in favour of Net Neutrality. Given the passivity of commissioner Neelie Kroes on the issue⁵http://www.laquadrature.net/en/mrs-kroes-will-you-let-them-control-the-net, the Parliament must absolutely amend this resolution so that citizens’ rights ultimately prevail over the business interest of telecom operators”, said Jérémie Zimmermann, spokesperson for the citizen advocacy group La Quadrature du Net.