Governments ‘Determined’ to Safeguard EU Interests at WCIT, But Lawmakers Worry

The European Parliament was to vote Thursday on resolutions aimed at pressuring governments not to yield to attempts by some countries to regulate the Internet through changes to the ITU’s International Telecom Regulations (ITRs). The Council of Ministers is preparing its position for the December World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, a position that will be adopted sometime before Nov. 29, an EU diplomatic source told us. Governments are fully committed to ensuring that the WCIT outcome aligns with EU law and its digital agenda, Cypriot Justice and Public Order Minister Louca Loucas told Parliament members during a Tuesday evening debate in the Legal Affairs Committee. The council is “fully determined to defend the EU interest in Dubai,” he said. Nevertheless, lawmakers said they're worried European values will fall victim to governments seeking a stronger voice on the Internet.

The Internet everyone knows and uses today developed organically because talented and creative people were given the freedom to innovate for the benefit of all, European Industry and Entrepreneurship Commissioner Antonio Tajani, standing in for Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes, said during the parliamentary committee discussion. The WCIT brings the possibility of more restrictive regulation of the Internet, which could hamper growth in data traffic and raise costs, he said. Many of the nations seeking stronger rules don’t share EU human rights, free speech and other values, he said. It’s important that the EU reject any proposal that affects those values, including extending the ITRs to include content monitoring, he said.

The EU expects “very difficult negotiations” in Dubai, but there are quite a few countries on the same wavelength as it is, Tajani said. The European Commission is glad that telecom operators support the view of the Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations that Internet rules shouldn’t be made on a global level, he said. The EC wants to ensure that any ITR changes won’t affect European Community law or change their scope, he said. That means opposing new rules on interconnection charge rates and other topics, he said. The EC is trying to get a negotiating mandate from the council for the conference, he said.

China, Russia and certain Arab and African countries want to place Internet infrastructure under ITRs, something the European People’s Party rejects absolutely, German lawmaker Sabine Verheyen said on the group’s behalf. Free access to the Internet and discrimination-free data transmission create a potential for democracy to bloom, she said. Some countries are looking to change the Internet business model, making it more expensive, said Ivailo Kalfin, of Bulgaria and the Socialists and Democrats. Russia wants governments to have the right to regulate online activities within their national territories and to decide Internet domain names, he said. That’s “not possible,” and the Socialists insist on a strong EC stand against it, he said.

One resolution, by Dutch member Marietje Schaake of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and Swedish lawmaker Amelia Andersdotter of the Greens/European Free Alliance, calls on the EC and council to block changes that would hurt Internet openness, net neutrality, access to content and participatory governance. As a consequence of some of the proposals on the table, “the ITU itself could become the ruling power of the Internet,” the resolution says. The ITU, or any other centralized international institution such as Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers “is not the appropriate body to assert regulatory authority over the Internet,” it says. A second resolution, by Verheyen and Kalfin, voices many of the same concerns, and also criticizes the “lack of transparency surrounding preparations” for WCIT given the importance of the meeting’s outcome for the public interest.