Press releases
- 112: European Commission sends Italy final warning and closes legal action against Lithuania
- (20/11/2009) The European Commission today stepped up legal action against Italy because Italian emergency services still do not receive information about the location of people who dial 112 – Europe's single emergency number – from mobile phones despite a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice. The Commission has decided to send Italy a reasoned opinion, which is the final stage before the case is referred again to the European Court of Justice, who would then have to decide to impose financial penalties on Italy for lack of respect of a previous judgement. At the same time, the Commission also ended legal action taken against Lithuania as caller location details are now available for 112 calls from mobile phones.
- Telecoms: European Commission welcomes EU Ministers' approval of broad reform to bring about a competitive single telecoms market
- (20/11/2009) Today, the Council of EU Ministers unanimously approved the EU's telecoms reform package, first proposed by the European Commission in 2007. Today's Council decision comes after a political agreement on the package was reached in a breakthrough meeting between the European Parliament and Council on 5 November. The new rules will enhance competition and investment in Europe's telecoms market, by giving more certainty to companies investing in high-speed optical fibre and wireless networks. It will also open up airwaves for new mobile services. The European Parliament will vote next week, in its Strasbourg plenary session, to formally endorse the telecoms package. The reformed telecoms rules will become EU law once they are published in the EU's Official Journal in December 2009.
- EU ministers: accessible, interactive and customised online public services in Europe by 2015
- (19/11/2009) EU ministers have committed to developing smarter online public services for citizens and businesses by 2015. The Commission has welcomed this step forward in making eGovernment more accessible, interactive and customised. At the fifth Ministerial eGovernment Conference in Malmö (Sweden) today, EU ministers outlined a joint vision and policy priorities on how this should be delivered. eGovernment is a key step towards boosting Europe's competitiveness, benefiting from time and cost savings for citizens and businesses across Europe.
- Against all odds, broadband internet continues to grow in the EU
- (18/11/2009) With more than 11 million new fixed lines laid in a year, the take up of broadband internet continues to grow in Europe. According to a report published today by the European Commission, 24% of the EU population had a broadband access line subscription in July 2009, up from 21.6% in July 2008. The report also shows that mobile broadband is gaining momentum in Europe, with a 54% increase since January and now at a penetration rate of 4.2% per 100 citizens. Last but not least, broadband internet connections in Europe are increasingly faster. 80% of broadband lines in the EU now have download speeds of 2 megabits per second (Mbps) or greater (allowing the use of Web 2.0 and video streaming), which is 5% up from last year.
- Internet Governance Forum: Commission welcomes landmark step towards a truly global internet
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(16/11/2009) At the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), the European Commission today has welcomed a landmark step towards a truly global (and local) internet: the announcement that "Internationalised Domain Names" will be introduced at the top level. Until now, internet domain names were either fully or partly in the Latin "a to z" alphabet. ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which manages the internet's core directory, has announced that a fast track process would be launched today to open up country code top level domains (like ".eu" of europa.eu) to non Latin characters. This means that Europeans, especially in Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus, will be able to see domain names in their own alphabets. Viviane Reding, the EU's telecoms and internet Commissioner, heralded this major multilingual development. She also called for the timeframe of the Internet Governance Forum – a unique multi-stakeholder dialogue platform for the global internet community – to be extended.
See also: Speech by Viviane Reding : Why the Internet must be open, global and multilingual
- A European Digital Agenda for the New Digital Consumer
- (12/11/2009) BEUC multi-stakeholder forum on "Consumer Privacy and Online Marketing: Market Trends and Policy Perspectives", Brussels, 12 November 2009
- Agreement on EU Telecoms Reform paves way for stronger consumer rights, an open internet, a single European telecoms market and high-speed internet connections for all citizens
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(05/11/2009) Late last night (at 0:45), the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers reached an agreement on the EU Telecoms Reform, after intense negotiations brokered by the European Commission. The reform, proposed by the Commission in November 2007, substantially strengthens competition and consumer rights on Europe's telecoms markets, facilitates high-speed internet broadband connections to all Europeans and establishes a European Body of Telecoms Regulators to complete the single market for telecoms networks and services. Following the endorsement of the reform package by an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament in May this year, only one subparagraph had remained controversial between Parliament and Council: the degree to which access to the internet should, and could, be protected by EU law, as well as the procedural and judicial safeguards for internet users. After further talks, in a conciliation committee made up of representatives of the 27 Member States and an equal number of representatives from Parliament, the negotiators of Parliament, Council and Commission agreed last night – by unanimity – on a new internet freedom provision that will substantially strengthen the rights of internet users. The new internet freedom provision will be accompanied by new measures to reinforce the neutral character of the internet in Europe. Following final votes in Parliament and Council in November, these reforms could come into force in early 2010.
See also: Video of Press Conference
- Telecoms: Commission invites Dutch regulator to bring calculation method for setting fixed termination rates in line with the EU approach
- (05/11/2009) The European Commission, in a letter sent today, asked the Dutch telecoms regulator, Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit (OPTA), to align its cost accounting method for calculating fixed termination rates with the approach recommended by EU guidelines, adopted on 7 May 2009. Call termination charges, which the operator of the calling network pays to the operator of the receiving network, should be based on the current costs of an efficient operator employing efficient technology. Until now, OPTA's specific calculation model includes costs that should not be attributed to the provision of call termination services. The resulting above-cost regulated termination rates may limit the benefits of competition and encourage operators charge consumers too much.
- Telecoms: Commission asks Romania to separate regulatory and ownership functions in telecoms
- (29/10/2009) The European Commission today started legal action against Romania for not respecting EU rules that require the separation between those making telecoms rules and those providing telecoms services. The Commission today sent Romania a letter of formal notice, the first phase of an infringement proceeding. This is the second infringement proceeding the Commission has launched against Romania over the independence of its telecoms regulator. The first case, also ongoing, was launched in January 2009 over the regulator's dismissal.
- Telecoms: Commission calls on Italian telecoms regulator to ensure that new separation arrangements for Telecom Italia and Telecom Italia's commitments endorsed by the regulator promote and do not jeopardize effective competition
- (29/10/2009) The European Commission, in a letter sent today, comments on the draft decision of the Italian telecoms regulator (AGCOM) to impose regulatory obligations on the retail market for access to telephony services and on the wholesale broadband markets. The Commission specifically comments on undertakings offered by Telecom Italia, which introduce significant changes in its internal organisation and are supposed to ensure more transparency and non-discrimination on the markets concerned. These undertakings are part of the proposed obligations and subject to national and Community consultations.