EU Digital Agenda: Open internet and net neutrality background

I mentioned the EU TTE Council (transport, telecommunications and energy) 12 and 13 December 2011 on my blogs in Finnish, Swedish (here and here) and English. The TTE Council adopted conclusions which on five pages establish the open internet and net neutrality as a policy objective in Europe, while balancing between contradictory claims and interests.

Here I am going to take a web log approach on my blogs, recording the steps from the Digital Agenda.


Digital Agenda for Europe

Let us start upstream, returning to A Digital Agenda for Europe. The original communication was published 19 May 2010, even if the revised version is dated 26 August 2010. The proposal kicked off one of the seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The communication from the European Commission is available in 22 EU languages; here the English version:

A Digital Agenda for Europe; Brussels, 26.8.2010 COM(2010) 245 final/2


Open internet

The Digital Agenda communication offered this introduction to the openness of the internet (page 20-21), with a few indications about the occurring questions:

2.4.3. Open and neutral internet

The Commission will also monitor closely the implementation of the new legislative provisions on the open and neutral character of the internet, which safeguard users' rights to access and distribute information online and ensure transparency about traffic management [Footnote 27 reference to: Article 8(4)(g) of the Directive 2002/21/EC on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services; Articles 20(1)(b) and 21(3)(c) and (d) of the Universal Service Directive]. The Commission will launch a public consultation before summer 2010 as part of its more general commitment to report by the end of the year, in the light of market and technological developments, on whether additional guidance is required, in order to secure the basic objectives of freedom of expression, transparency, the need for investment in efficient and open networks, fair competition and openness to innovative business models.

Net neutrality

Wikipedia offers a long introduction to the controversial topic Network neutrality. The article is general in scope, but most of the contents deal with developments and opinion in the United States. However, it discusses the legal situation in the European Union and a few member states (with some need for editing and updating).



Ralf Grahn

Open internet and net neutrality in EU

The TTE Council of the European Union met to deal with transport and telecommunications issues:

3134th Council meeting Transport, Telecommunications and Energy; Brussels, 12 and 13 December 2011 (document 18416/11; 27 pages)

The general TTE conclusions offer an overview of the Council's response to the open internet and net neutrality, issued in relation to the Digital Agenda (pages 19-20):

Open internet and net neutrality

The Council adopted conclusions on the open internet and net neutrality in Europe (17904/11).

These conclusions were drawn up on the basis of the Commission communication on the subject published in April 2011 (9350/11). This communication seeks to fulfil the Commission commitment to preserve "the open and neutral character of the internet, taking full account of the will of the co-legislators now to enshrine net neutrality as a policy objective and regulatory principle to be promoted by national regulatory authorities". This commitment was made in its declaration on net neutrality when the 2009 telecoms package was concluded (OJ C 308, 18.12.2009, p.2).

In the conclusions the Council underlines, inter alia, the need to preserve the open and neutral character of the internet and consider net neutrality as a policy objective. It welcomes the Commission's intention to assess the need, based on investigations by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications' (BEREC), for more stringent measures and to publish additional guidance on net neutrality if necessary. In addition, it welcomes the Commission's commitments to monitor the implementation of the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications and services and to issue a code of existing EU online rights by 2012.

The Commission is invited, inter alia, to assess, jointly with BEREC, the discrepancy between advertised and actual delivery speeds occurring in member states, and report to the Council and the Parliament on the situation thereof by 2012. Furthermore, the Commission is invited to provide additional information on the best practices in traffic management and on how to respond to the requirements of global service providers concerning quality and pricing of services.

Open internet and net neutrality

The general conclusions refer and link to the specific conclusions prepared by Coreper and dated 1 December 2011:

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - "The open internet and net neutrality in Europe" - Adoption of Council conclusions (document 17904/11, available in the other EU languages as well; 9 pages)

If you want to be on the safe side, you can compare with the text distributed to the press after TTE adoption, at this point in English and French.


COM(2011) 222

There is a link to the communication from the Commission (Council document 9350/11), but through Eur-Lex we can access COM(2011) 222 in 22 languges and three document formats. Here to the English version (pdf):

The open internet and net neutrality in Europe; Brussels, 19.4.2011 COM(2011) 222 final (10 pages)



Ralf Grahn

Baker's dozen of Grahnlaw & Co. on EU affairs

As a fan of the Crustum bakery and cafeterias in Helsinki, here is a baker's dozen to offer you the latest entries on my three unilingual (EN, FI, SV) blogs and the trilingual one, at a glance:

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU2020-strategia: Energia 2020

Grahnlaw: EU Council (TTE) more open and transparent (Will it last?)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energy for Europe

Grahnblawg: Energi i EU: Sverige informerar

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Förny(else)bar energi i Europeiska unionen

Grahnlaw: EU third energy package into force

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) inaugurated

Grahnlaw: Renewable energy materials: EU progress towards 2020 target

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Suomi tiedotti (EPSCO)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Neuvosto tiedotti (EPSCO)

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Unkari tiedotti (EPSCO)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Ruotsi tiedotti (EPSCO)

Grahnlaw: PM Reinfeldt on Sweden in the EU



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Are you interested in European values? How about the economy, business, politics, policies or law in the EU?

Civilised blog comments relevant to the topic are welcome on my blogs.

The multilingual comment policy means that you can write in one of the following languages: ES DA DE EN FR IT NL PT FI SV NO (even if my possible replies are in English, Finnish or Swedish depending on the blog and the post).

You can also find me on Twitter @RalfGrahn and Facebook.

Renewable energy materials: EU progress towards 2020 target

When the European Commission published its report on progress towards the 2020 target for renewable energy, it invited Member States to:

• implement the National Renewable Energy Action Plans;

• streamline infrastructure planning regimes while respecting existing EU environmental legislation and strive to conform to best practice;

• make faster progress in developing the electricity grid to balance higher shares of renewable energy;

• develop cooperation mechanisms and start integrating renewable energy into the European market;

• ensure that any reforms of existing national support schemes will guarantee the stability for investors, avoiding retroactive changes.

This blog post is a compilation of available materials from the Commission.


European Commission press releases

In customary manner, the European Commission presented two press releases on 31 January 2011 regarding the report about renewable energy, one with a brief overview (IP) and another one with some background (MEMO):

Renewable Energy Targets: Commission calls on Member States to boost cooperation (IP/11/113; published in English, French and German, the Commission working languages)

Commission Communication on renewable energy (MEMO/11/54; published only in English)


Communication COM(2011) 31

The centrepiece is the communication from the Commission:

Renewable Energy: Progressing towards the 2020 target; Brussels, 31.1.2011 COM(2011) 31 final (15 pages)

The communication on renewable energy is available through the legal portal Eur-Lex in 22 official EU languages.


Accompanying documents

The accompanying documents from the Commission staff are of interest to energy specialists:

Report on the operation of the mass balance verification method for the biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme in accordance with Article 18(2) of Directive 2009/28/EC; Brussels, 31.1.2011 SEC(2011) 129 final (in English only)

Recent progress in developing renewable energy sources and technical evaluation of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels in transport in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 2001/77/EC and Article 4(2) of Directive 2003/30/EC; Brussels, 31.1.2011 SEC(2011) 130 final (In the absence of a bibliographic notice, we only know that there is this English version)

Review of European and national financing of renewable energy in accordance with Article 23(7) of Directive 2009/28/EC; Brussels, 31.1.2011 SEC(2011) 131 final (only in English)


Latest: Energy ministers

From the meeting of the energy ministers in the TTE Council 28 February 2011 we know the following:

Renewable energy - progressing towards the 2020 target

The Commission briefed ministers on the progress made towards the 2020 target for renewable energy and presented its communicaiton adopted in January (5965/11)

[link in the original]

Source: TTE conclusions, page 11, in:

3072nd Council meeting Transport, Telecommunications and Energy: ENERGY; Brussels, 28 February 2011 (Council document 6950/11)



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Do you want to explore the world of Euroblogs? One place to start are the Fleishman-Hillard Netvibes pages, which have categories for noteworthy journalists, citizens, EUofficials, Commissioners, MEPs, corporate and collective blogging about EU affairs, as well as the FH selection of ten must-read Euroblogs.


P.S. 2: To help you get an overview of my three unilingual blogs (EN, FI, SV) and one trilingual one, here are links to my ten latest entries:


Grahnblawg: EU: Information och energi inför TTE-rådet

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energin inför EU:s vårtoppmöte om ekonomi och näringsliv

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n energian tukkumarkkinoiden säätely: Paremmin ja avoimemmin

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU2020-strategia: Energia 2020

Grahnlaw: EU Council (TTE) more open and transparent (Will it last?)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energy for Europe

Grahnblawg: Energi i EU: Sverige informerar

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Förny(else)bar energi i Europeiska unionen

Grahnlaw: EU third energy package into force

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) inaugurated


Are you interested in European values? How about the economy, business, politics, policies or law in the EU? Civilised blog comments relevant to the topic are welcome on Grahnlaw and the multilingual comment policy means that you can write in one of the following European languages: ES DA DE EN FR IT NL PT FI SV NO (even if my possible replies are in English). You can also find me on Twitter @RalfGrahn and Facebook.