Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, 27/11/2014, 27 November 2014

Connected continent proposal under discussion at the Council

Meeting in Brussels on 27 November, telecommunications ministers discussed a proposal amend the EU telecommunications regulatory framework. The Council also adopted conclusions on internet governance. 

Connected continent

The Council discussed the state of play on the so-called 'connected continent' proposal, focussing on two main issues: roaming and net neutrality.

On roaming, most member states expressed the need to have more time to analyse what would be the best approach to avoid unintended effects of roaming. In particular, they want to prevent a situation in which domestic prices would go up to make up for any losses that operators might incur on roaming services.

On net neutrality, most member states said that it is important to have open and non-discriminatory access to the Internet, but that it is likewise important to avoid curtailing innovation and investment.

Internet governance

The Council adopted conclusions on internet governance, outlining Europe's role in shaping the future of Internet governance. In particular, they highlight EU support for a multi-stakeholder model for internet governance. The also note the need to address the impact of possible conflicts of jurisdiction on data protection and geographical indications. On this issue, the conclusions reaffirm the EU's attachment to the same fundamental rights online as offline.

Other topics on the agenda

Ministers also discussed a number of other issues, including:

• ongoing work on a proposal to improve the accessibility of public sector websites
• the state of play of work on the network and information security proposal
• telecommunications aspects of the Europe 2020 mid-term review
• registration principles for the .eu top level domain

The incoming Latvian Presidency also presented its work programme for telecommunications issues.