Activities of Amelia ANDERSDOTTER related to 2013/0309(COD)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down measures concerning the European single market for electronic communications and to achieve a Connected Continent, and amending Directives 2002/20/EC, 2002/21/EC, 2002/22/EC, and Regulations (EC) No 1211/2009 and (EU) No 531/2012 PDF (1 MB) DOC (2 MB)
Amendments (34)
Amendment 172 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) This Regulation aims at the completion of the single electronic communications market through action on three broad, inter-related axes. First, it should secure the freedom to provide electronic communications services across borders and networks in different Member States, building on the concept of a single EU authorisation which puts in place the conditions for ensuring greater consistency and predictability in the content and implementation of sector-specific regulation throughout the Union. Second, it is necessary to enable access on much more convergent terms and conditions to essential inputs for the cross-border provision of electronic communications networks and services, not only for wireless broadband communications, for which both licensed and unlicensed spectrum is key, but also for fixed line connectivity. Third, in the interests of aligning business conditions and building the digital confidence of citizens, this Regulation should harmonise rules on the protection of end-users, especially consumers. This includes rules on non- discrimination, contractual information, termination of contracts and switching, in addition to rules on access to online content, applications and services and on traffic management which not only protect end-users but simultaneously guarantee the continued functioning of the Internet ecosystem as an engine of innovation. In addition, further reforms in the field of roaming should give end-users the confidence to stay connected when they travel in the Union, and should become over time a driver of convergent pricing and other conditions in the Union. (This amendment applies to the whole text)
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) The application of various national policies creates inconsistencies and fragmentation of the internal market which hamper the roll-out of Union-wide services and the completion of the internal market for wireless broadband communications. It could in particular create unequal conditions for access to such services, hamper competition between undertakings established in different Member States and stifle investments in more advanced networks and technologies and the emergence of innovative services, thereby depriving citizens and businesses of ubiquitous integrated high-quality services and wireless broadband operators of increased efficiency gains from large-scale more integrated operations. Therefore, action at Union level regarding certain aspects of radio spectrum assignment should accompany the development of wide integrated coverage of advanced wireless broadband communications services throughout the Union. At the same timWhile, Member States shouldmay retain the right to adopt measures to organise their radio spectrum for public order, public security purposes and defence, any new spectrum made available following the application of this regulation should be exclusively used for the internal market harmonisation.
Amendment 229 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 37
Recital 37
(37) The establishment of European virtual broadband access products under this Regulation should be reflected in the assessment by national regulatory authorities of the most appropriate access remedies to the networks of operators designated as having significant market power, while avoiding. The possibility of the implementation of functional separation as an exceptional measure, and the implementation of full equivalence of access should be kept under constant review by national regulatory authorities. National regulatory authorities should avoid over-regulation through the unnecessary multiplication of wholesale access products, whether imposed pursuant to market analysis or provided under other conditions. In particular, the introduction of the European virtual access products should not, in and of itself, lead to an increase in the number of regulated access products imposed on a given operator. Moreover, the need for national regulatory authorities, following the adoption of this Regulation, to assess whether a European virtual broadband access product should be imposed instead of existing wholesale access remedies, and to assess the appropriateness of imposing a European virtual broadband access product in the context of future market reviews where they find significant market power, should not affect their responsibility to identify the most appropriate and proportionate remedy to address the identified competition problem in accordance with Article 16 of Directive 2002/21/EC.
Amendment 232 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 39
Recital 39
Amendment 239 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 45
Recital 45
(45) The internet has developed over the past decades as an open platform for innovation with low access barriers for end-users, content and application providers and internet service providers. The existing regulatory framework aims at promoting the ability of end-users to access and distribute information or run applications and services of their choice. Recently, however, the report of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) on traffic management practices published in May 2012 and a study, commissioned by the Executive Agency for Consumers and Health and published in December 2012, on the functioning of the market of internet access and provision from a consumer perspective, showed that a significant number of end-users are affected by traffic management practices which block or slow down specific applications. These tendencies require clear rules at the Union level to maintain the open internet and to avoid fragmentation of the single market resulting from individual Member States' measures. Indeed, as stated by the European Parliament resolution of 17 November 2011 on the open internet and net neutrality in Europe 2011/2866, the internet's open character has been a key driver of competitiveness, economic growth, social development and innovation – which has led to spectacular levels of development in online applications, content and services – and thus of growth in the offer of, and demand for, content and services, and has made it a vitally important accelerator in the free circulation of knowledge, ideas and information, including in countries where access to independent media is limited;
Amendment 247 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46
Recital 46
(46) The freedom of end-users to access and distribute information and lawful content, run applications and use services of their choice is subject to the respect of Union and compatible national law. This Regulation defines the limits for any restrictions to this freedom by providers of electronic communications to the public but is without prejudice to other Union legislation, including copyright rules, Directive 1995/46, Directive 2002/58, and Directive 2000/31/EC.
Amendment 249 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46 a (new)
Recital 46 a (new)
(46 a) Non-discrimination of information in the sending, transmitting and receiving phase shall be ensured for encouraging innovation and eliminating entry barriers, as stated by the European Parliament in its implementation report on the regulatory framework for electronic communications 2013/2080;
Amendment 250 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46 b (new)
Recital 46 b (new)
(46 b) Potential anti-competitive and discriminative behaviour in traffic management would be contrary to the principle of net neutrality and the open internet, and should be therefore prevented, as also stated by the European Parliament in its initiative report 2013/2080;
Amendment 251 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46 c (new)
Recital 46 c (new)
(46 c) According to the European Parliament in its resolutions of 17th November 2011 on the open internet and net neutrality in Europe 2011/2866, and of 11th December 2012 on a digital freedom strategy in EU foreign policy 2012/2098, internet service providers should not block, discriminate against, impair or degrade the ability of any person to use a service to access, use, send, post, receive or offer any content, application or service of their choice, irrespective of source or target.
Amendment 260 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 47
Recital 47
(47) In an open internet, providers of electronic communications to the public should, within contractually agreed limits on data volumes and speeds for internet access services, not block, slow down, degrade or discriminate against specific content, applications or services or specific classes thereof except for a limited number of reasonabletechnically-reasonable, non-commercially based, traffic management measures. Such measures should be transparent, proportionate and non- discriminatory. Reasonable traffic management encompasses prevention or impediment of serious crimes, including voluntary actions of providers to prevent access to and distribution of child pornography. Minimising the effects of network congestion should be considered reasonable provided that network congestion occurs only temporarily or in exceptional circumstances.
Amendment 278 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 50
Recital 50
(50) In addition, there is demand on the part of content, applications and services providers, for the provision of transmission services based on flexible quality parameters, including lower levels of priority for traffic which is not time- sensitive. The possibility for content, applications and service providers to negotiate such flexible quality of service levels with providers of electronic communications to the public is necessarycould be used for the provision of specialised services and is expected to play an important role in the development of new services such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. At the same time such arrangements should allow providers of electronic communications to the public to better balance traffic and prevent network congestion. Providers of content, applications and services and providers of electronic communications to the public should therefore be free to conclude specialised services agreements on defined levels of quality of service as long as such quality characteristics are technically necessary for the functionality of the service and agreements do not substantially impair the general quality of internet access services.
Amendment 322 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point e a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point e a (new)
e a) to ensure that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independent of its sender, receiver, type, content, device, service or application;
Amendment 346 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 12 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 12 a (new)
(12 a) "net neutrality" means the principle that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independent of its sender, receiver, type, content, device, service or application;
Amendment 350 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 14
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 14
(14) ‘internet access service’ means a publicly available electronic communications service that provides connectivity to the internet, and thereby connectivity between virtually all end points connected to the internet, irrespective of the network technology used; It enables end-users to run any application utilising the electronic communications network of the internet.
Amendment 354 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 15
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point 15
(15) ‘'specialised service’' means an electronic communications service or any other service that provides the capability to access specific content, applications or services, or a combination thereof, and whose technical characteriperated within closed electronic communications networks using the Internet Protocol with stricst are controlled from end-to-end or provides the capability to send or receive data to or from a determined number of parties or endpoints; and that is not marketed or widely used as a substitute fordmission control; and that is not marketed as a substitute for internet access service or functionally identical to services available over the public internet access service;
Amendment 561 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19
Article 19
Amendment 568 #
Proposal for a regulation
Chapter 4 – title
Chapter 4 – title
Amendment 584 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 594 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 607 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 617 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
In order to enable the provision of specialised services to end-users, providers of content, applications and services and providers of electronic communications to the public shall be free tomay enter into agreements with each other to transmit the related data volumes or traffic as specialised services with a defined quality of service or dedicated capacity. The provision of specialised services shall not impair in a recurring or continuous manner the generalthe quality of internet access services.
Amendment 624 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 3
Article 23 – paragraph 3
Amendment 638 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Amendment 646 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) implement a legislative provision or a court order, or prevent or impede serious crimescourt order;
Amendment 653 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) preserve the integrity and security of the European electronic communication provider's network, services provided via this network, and the end-users' terminals;
Amendment 657 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Amendment 667 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point d
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point d
(d) minimistigate the effects of temporary orand exceptional network congestion, primarily by means of application-agnostic measures or, when these measures do not prove efficient, by mean of application- specific measures, provided that equivalent types of traffic are treated equally.
Amendment 681 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Reasonable traffic management shall only entail processing of data that is necessary and proportionate to achieve the purposes set out in this paragraph. The processing of data shall not reveal any information concerning the content of the communication the end users access.
Amendment 684 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 23 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. The prices of internet access services from providers of electronic communications to the public shall not depend on the internet content, applications and services used or offered through the same internet access services
Amendment 687 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1
Article 24 – paragraph 1
1. National regulatory authorities shall closely monitor and ensure the effective ability of end- users to benefit from the freedoms provided for in Article 23 (1) and (2), compliance with Article 23 (5), and the continued availability of non- discriminatory internet access services at levels of quality that reflect advances in technology and that are not impaired by specialised services. They shall, in cooperation with other competent national authorities, also monitor the effects of specialised services on cultural diversity and innovation. National regulatory authorities shall report on an annual basis to the Commission and BEREC on their monitoring and findings. To that purpose, the competent national regulatory authority shall: (a) be mandated to regularly monitor and report on Internet traffic management practices and usage polices, in order to ensure network neutrality, evaluate the potential impact of the aforementioned practices and policies on fundamental rights, ensure the provision of a sufficient quality of service and the allocation of a satisfactory level of network capacity to the Internet. Reporting should be done in an open and transparent fashion and reports shall be made freely available to the public; (b) put in place appropriate, clear, open and efficient procedures aimed at addressing network neutrality complaints. To this end, all Internet users shall be entitled to make use of such complaint procedures in front of the relevant authority; (c) respond to the complaints within a reasonable time and be able to use necessary measures in order to sanction the breach of the network neutrality principle. This authority must have the necessary resources to undertake the aforementioned duties in a timely and effective manner. They shall, in cooperation with other competent national authorities and the European Data Protection Supervisor, also monitor the effects of specialised services on cultural diversity, competition and innovation. National regulatory authorities shall report on an annual basis to the public, the Commission and BEREC on their monitoring and findings.
Amendment 713 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point e – point iv a (new)
Article 25 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point e – point iv a (new)
(iva) the communication inspection techniques used for traffic management measures, instituted for the purposes listed in article 23.5, and their repercussions on users privacy and data protection right.
Amendment 717 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 3
Article 25 – paragraph 3
3. End-uUsers shall have access to independent evaluation tools allowing them to compare the performance of electronic communications network access and services and the cost of alternative usage patterns. To this end Member States shall establish a voluntary certification scheme for interactive websites, guides or similar tools. Certification shall be granted on the basis of objective, transparent and proportionate requirements, in particular independence from any provider of electronic communications to the public, the use of plain language and open source software and publically known methodologies, the provision of complete and up-to-date information, and the operation of an effective complaints handling procedure. Where certified comparison facilities are not available on the market free of charge or at a reasonable price, national regulatory authorities or other competent national authorities shall make such facilities available themselves or through third parties in compliance with the certification requirements. The information published by providers of electronic communications to the public shall be accessible, provided in open data formats, free of charge, for the purposes of making available comparison facilities.
Amendment 755 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 35 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point a
Article 35 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point a
Directive 2002/21/EC
Article 7a
Article 7a
Amendment 758 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 35 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a
Article 35 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a
Directive 2002/21/EC
Article 15
Article 15