One month after the EU Roaming Regulation to reduce mobile roaming charges by up to 70% entered into force, the Commission has published a website to benchmark how mobile operators in all 27 Member States have applied the new EU rules. The Commission has found that the broad majority of mobile phone operators comply with the EU Regulation by offering customers the new "Eurotariff" (tariffs no higher than €0.49 per minute for calls made abroad and no higher than €0.24 for calls received abroad, excluding VAT).

Nearly 20% of European households buy bundled telecom packages, according to an EU-wide survey of 27,000 representative households published on 27 April. Almost 30% are now connected to the internet via high-speed 'broadband' links and households increasingly use mobile phones as fixed lines become less popular. 17% of Europeans having a home Internet connection use it for Internet telephony.

The Commission has launched a public consultation to identify the most effective ways of making online services and mobile phones safer for users, in particular for children. The objective is to help the Commission assess the need for a follow-up to the Safer Internet plus programme, which runs until the end of 2008.

The Commission unveiled on 9 March a consolidated text of the modernised "Television without Frontiers" Directive. After a first reading in the European Parliament and the Council, there is now broad agreement with the Commission about the future legal framework for Europe's audiovisual sector. The new rules, which have been called for especially by the European Parliament, are a response to technological developments and create a new level-playing field in Europe for emerging audiovisual media services (video on demand, mobile TV, audiovisual services on digital TV). European TV- and filmmakers will be given more flexibility to produce digital content which they can then make freely available to consumers thanks to advertising. The new Directive reaffirms the pillars of Europe's audiovisual model, which are cultural diversity, protection of minors, consumer protection, media pluralism, and the fight against racial and religious hatred,. The Commission also proposes to ensure the independence of national media regulators. The consolidated text of the new Directive will now go into a second reading by the European Parliament and Council.
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Leading European mobile operators signed on 6 February in Brussels an agreement on how to protect minors using mobile phones. This agreement, brokered by the European Commission, responds to the findings of the Commission's public consultation on child safety and mobile phones published today. In the agreement, mobile operators undertake to develop self-regulatory codes by February 2008.
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The Safer Internet Day 2007 is organised under the patronage of Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding; it will be celebrated across more than 30 countries worldwide and will mainly focus on child safety and mobile phones.

Vice-President Franco Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Justice, Liberty and Security, and Viviane Reding, Commissioner responsible for Information Society and Media, are in Paris attended an international meeting on the issue of missing, abducted and sexually exploited children. Also present werethe members of the Honorary Board of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), including Her Majesty the Queen of the Belgians, Her Majesty the Queen of Sweden, Mrs Laura Bush, Mrs Lyudmila Putin and Mrs Margarida Sousa Uva-Barroso.

The European QUATRO project released a browser extension and search annotation tool that makes it easier for users to recognise websites that carry trustmarks and lables. Users will be able to make better informed choices about the content they wish to see.

On 27 November the Commission called on all regulatory authorities and stakeholders in Europe to step up the fight against spam, spyware and malicious software. Despite existing EU legislation to outlaw spam in Europe, Europe continues to suffer from illegal online activities from inside the EU and from third countries, the Commission underlines in a new Communication. The Communication stresses that although internet safety is on the political agenda for some time, national authorities should step up their actions to prosecute illegal online activities.

An independent evaluation finds that the EU’s Safer Internet programme, which promotes safer internet use, particularly for children, has been very effective in tackling illegal and harmful internet content, whilst respecting people’s freedom of expression. The Commission is taking into account the recommendations of these experts, in its implementation of the “Safer Internet plus” programme in 2007-2008. Meanwhile, the current programme is being used as a model by other regions of the world.

As new information and communication technologies make it ever easier for anyone to publish, broadcast or communicate, so the ability to judge the true merit of media content and make conscious choices – or 'media literacy' – becomes ever more essential for active citizenship and democracy. To cultivate and improve media literacy in the digital age, the European Commission opened on 6 October an EU-wide survey of best practices, and will set out its findings and proposals in a Communication in 2007. The survey questionnaire seeks the public's views on media literacy in connection with digital technologies, and information about initiatives in commercial communications, film and the online world. The deadline for replies is 15 December.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the potential risks for children of using mobile phones. Input is invited from any stakeholder, including child safety, parent and consumer organisations, mobile network operators, content providers, handset and network manufacturers, and regulators. The consultation will run until 16 October 2006.

From 2 May, European parents, teachers and children can get free information on the safe use of Internet through EUROPE DIRECT, the European Commission’s free information service. Citizens can access this service from anywhere in the European Union to find answers to questions they may have about the EU and EU-policies, such as those in the field of Internet safety : risks raised by the Internet, existing tools to protect their children and how to get more help.

To keep up the momentum of the successful World Summit on Information Society (Tunis, 16-18 November 2005), the European Commission has set out on 27 April its priorities for implementing the international policy commitments made at the Summit. These priorities include safeguarding and strengthening human rights, in particular the freedom to receive and access information. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) should be used to contribute to open democratic societies and to economic and social progress worldwide. The Commission calls for continuing international talks to improve Internet governance through the two new processes created by the Summit: the multi-stakeholder Internet Governance Forum and the mechanism of enhanced cooperation that will involve all governments on an equal footing.

On 7 February, Safer Internet Day is celebrated by 95 organisations in 36 countries across the world, including 24 EU countries, Russia, Argentina, New Zealand and the USA. Organised under the patronage of Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding, Safer Internet Day 2006, features a blogathon or “blog-marathon” during which wide range of organisations and special guests will promote internet safety by making postings and inviting comments from visitors, children, schools and parents. The geographical focus of the 24hr blog moves steadily westwards through the global time zones, and includes content in different languages.

Retention of traffic data of telecommunications has been high on the political agenda during the last months. Two rivalling proposals for EU-legislation are on the table - a draft framework decision proposed by four Member States and a Commission proposal for a Directive. Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), who today presents his Opinion on the Commission proposal observes: "This is an incredibly sensitive issue. The Directive has a direct impact on the protection of privacy of EU citizens and it is crucial that it respects their fundamental rights, as settled by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. A legislative measure that would weaken the protection is not only unacceptable but also illegal".

The European Commission has adopted today a proposal for a Directive on the retention of communications traffic data. The proposal provides for an EU-wide harmonisation of the obligations on providers of publicly available electronic communications, or a public telecommunications network, to retain data related to mobile and fixed telephony for a period of one year, and internet communication data, for six month. The proposed Directive would not be applicable to the actual content of the communications. It also includes a provision ensuring that the service or network providers will be reimbursed for the demonstrated additional costs they will have.

On 8 February Safer Internet Day will be celebrated by 65 organisations in 30 countries across the world from Australia to Iceland, and Russia to Singapore. Safer Internet Day 2005, held under the patronage of Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding, features an Internet adventure storytelling contest for children in 19 countries and 16 languages, to be judged in June 2005. Safer Internet Day is part of a global drive by awareness-raising partners to promote a safer Internet for all users, especially young people. It is organised by the European internet safety network INSAFE, which is coordinated by European Schoolnet and co-funded by the European Commission’s Safer Internet Programme. Other Safer Internet Day activities include conferences, the launch of Internet literacy programmes in schools, media releases on radio and television and the launch of several new Safer Internet websites.

From 01 February, the Information Society and Media Directorate General of the Commission has two new Directorates and three new Units. This reorganisation completes the changes following President Barroso's decision to bring together under the responsibility of Commissioner Viviane Reding, all three aspects of modern day electronic communications –in the fields of broadcasting, computer networks and of electronic communication services.

The Commission services (DG Information Society), in close cooperation with the EU's Dutch Presidency, held an open workshop on 15 November to assess progress in implementing anti-spam measures further to the Commission's January 2004 Communication on this issue. The workshop highlighted three key points. Most of the Member States have quickly transposed the privacy and electronic communications Directive into their national laws. Yet, the Commission in some cases will need to assess these laws carefully, to ascertain whether differences amongst them might represent an obstacle to effective cross-border enforcement. Another important conclusion is the changing nature of spam, from "unsolicited commercial communication", to a problem inherently linked to computer security. Spam propagation through viruses that exploit personal computers is a new challenge, which will require suitably adapted measures. Finally, satisfaction was expressed for the degree of cooperation between the enforcement authorities, which work together in a Contact network set up by the Commission earlier this year.