The European Parliament today voted to adopt a legislative agreement on EU electronic communications rules.

Commenting after the vote Jean Lambert MEP said:

“The new e-communications rules adopted today are being sold as a victory for consumers but this is a sham. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, this package poses a real threat to the principle of net neutrality. The European Parliament had originally pushed for this to be enshrined in the legislation but the final agreement fails in this regard. Instead it introduces the possibility of ‘traffic management’ by service providers and ‘specialised services’, which would de facto undermine net neutrality and lead to a two-tier internet, with those who pay more getting more privileged access.

“To add insult to injury, the package is being sold as an end to roaming charges for mobile phone users but this is a hollow promise. While upfront roaming fees will end earlier than foreseen, the provisions are littered with loopholes under which telecoms firms could continue to charge more for the use of mobile phones when users travel in different EU member states. Service providers will be able to compensate for the loss with other charges if they claim they need to shore up their domestic prices. It will be up to national authorities to verify these claims, risking the creation of a patchwork of national exemptions. It is far from certain that it will be any cheaper to use phones cross border in 2017.”

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They have backed Green proposals to ensure that Internet access can’t just be provided by established telecommunications firms – and that the ‘content’ users receive must be genuinely open: not just restricted to those services chosen by ISPs.

London’s Green MEP Jean Lambert said she was delighted with the decision: and said the ball was now in the court of EU ministers who will make a final decision on the so-called ‘Single Digital Market package’ later this year.

She said: “Thankfully, a majority of MEPs has seen sense today and voted to uphold the principle of net neutrality in the EU.

“The proposals by the Commission, which would essentially have given large providers the all-clear for discriminating against users as they see fit, have been revised. Today’s vote would explicitly provide for net neutrality and will hopefully ensure a level playing field for all online services and users, providing for a more open internet environment in which innovation is encouraged.

“Information online should not be subject to discrimination, blocking or interference by internet access providers. This is what net neutrality implies: guaranteeing an open and free internet, where everyone can have access and contribute to the same online information. Clearly, today’s vote is important but we will have to remain vigilant to ensure any future threats to net neutrality can be headed off.”

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But new European rules designed to make the Internet a safer environment for them will fail on two key counts, according to London MEP Jean Lambert.

The Green Party MEP says the new EU-wide rules fail to tackle the issue of so-called ‘cyber-bullying’ by children themselves and that while they concentrate on protecting children from sexual imagery and on-line abuse they do nothing to protect them from advertising or predatory financial activity.

Ms Lambert said: “For nearly two years now MEPs and the European Commission have been trying to tackle the thorny issue of how to make the Internet a ‘better’ place for children.

“But these rules are about a narrow conception of Internet safety – they aren’t really about making the Internet ‘better’ in a wide sense at all.

“Not only do they fail to address cyber-bullying by children themselves but they concentrate almost exclusively on protecting children from sexual abuse on-line, failing to address any other safety issues at all.”

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