Activities of Judith SARGENTINI related to 2013/0309(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION 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 and 2002/22/EC and Regulations (EC) No 1211/2009 and (EU) No 531/2012
Amendments (25)
Amendment 23 #
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.
Amendment 25 #
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 29 #
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 and Directive 2000/31/EC.
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46 a (new)
Recital 46 a (new)
(46a) 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 32 #
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, not commercially motivated traffic management measures. Such measures should be transparent, necessary, 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 37 #
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 necessary for the provision ofcould serve to provide 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. This should however not impair the development of the general purpose internet. 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 51 #
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 users to run any application utilising the electronic communications network of the internet.
Amendment 53 #
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 characteristics 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 forperated within closed electronic communications networks using the Internet Protocol with strict admission control; and that is not marketed as a substitute for internet access service and that is not functionally identical to services available over the public internet access service;
Amendment 60 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19
Article 19
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a regulation
Chapter 4 – title
Chapter 4 – title
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 73 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 a (new)
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 a (new)
Under agreements concerning data volumes and speeds, selected content, services or applications may not be deducted from consumption volumes or exempted from data speed restriction on consumption of agreed data volumes.
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 23 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 84 #
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 88 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 3
Article 23 – paragraph 3
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Amendment 97 #
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 101 #
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 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 – point c
c) prevent the transmission of unsolicited communications to end-users who have given theirfor direct marketing purposes to users who have given their free, informed, explicit and prior consent to such restrictive measures;
Amendment 107 #
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, provided that equivalent types of traffic are treated equally.
Amendment 111 #
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. Processing of any information concerning the content of the communication for these purposes is not permitted
Amendment 115 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 a (new)
Article 23 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2 a (new)
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 118 #
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 127 #
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.