Our commitment to open internet access

EU rules on open Internet access apply as of 30 April 2016, following the adoption of Regulation ( EU ) 2015/2120 on 25 November 2015 by the European Parliament and the Council.

This Regulation is a major achievement for the Digital Single Market. It creates the individual and enforceable right for end-users in the EU to access and distribute Internet content and services of their choice. The Regulation also enshrines the principle of non-discriminatory traffic management. Common EU rules on open internet access ensure that the same provisions apply across Europe.

The enforcement of the open internet access rules is an important task of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), which should take utmost account of the reviewed BEREC guidelines on the Implementation of the Open Internet Access Regulation, adopted by BEREC in June 2020 and amending the guidelines of 30 August 2016. The Commission continues to monitor closely the application of the Regulation.

Under these rules, blocking, throttling and discrimination of internet traffic by Internet Service Providers ( ISP s) is not allowed in the EU. There are three exceptions: compliance with legal obligations; integrity of the network; congestion management in exceptional and temporary situations.

All traffic has to be treated equally. This means, for example, that there can be no prioritisation of traffic in the internet access service. At the same time, equal treatment allows reasonable day-to-day traffic management according to objectively justified technical requirements, and which must be independent of the origin or destination of the traffic and of any commercial considerations.

The Regulation also clarifies the requirements regarding the provision of specialised services with specific quality requirements by internet access providers and providers of content and applications. They must respect certain safeguards to ensure that the open internet is not negatively affected by the provision of these services. Specialised services cannot be a substitute to internet access services, they can only be provided if there is sufficient network capacity to provide them in addition to any internet access service and they must not be to the detriment of the availability or general quality of internet access services for end-users.

The role of regulators and BEREC guidelines

National Regulatory Authorities ( NRA s) have to monitor market developments. They have the powers and the obligation to assess traffic management, commercial practices and agreements and to effectively enforce the Regulation.

NRA s also have to ensure that the quality of the Internet access service reflects advances in technology. They are empowered to set minimum quality of service requirements on internet access providers and other appropriate measures to ensure that all end-users enjoy an open Internet access service of good quality.

On 30 August 2016, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications ( BEREC ), in close cooperation with the Commission and after having consulted stakeholders, issued guidelines for the implementation of the obligations of NRA s in order to contribute to the consistent application of this Regulation. These guidelines help NRA s to assess inter alia agreements and commercial practices and ''specialised services'' against a common benchmark, and to reach consistent decisions and enforcement actions.

BEREC reviewed and published on 16 June 2020 its updated guidelines to implement the Open Internet Access Regulation.

The new version of these guidelines, prepared based on the experience of national regulators and of the Commission during the last 4 years, provides clarity on commercial offers with differentiated pricing or differentiated quality.

The guidelines are adjusted to better fit to future 5G use cases that will offer more flexibility, better quality and specialised services for connected objects.

Annual country reports on open internet from national regulators

According to Article 5 of the Regulation, National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) have to closely monitor and ensure compliance with the provisions on open internet. NRAs are requested to publish annual reports and share these with the Commission and BEREC.

The Commission makes available the annual country reports from national regulators on open internet received.

These reports were prepared by the National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and sent to the Commission and BEREC.

The most recent, fourth set of reports covered the year from 1 May 2019 until 30 April 2020.

The first set of reports covered the first twelve months of applicability of the open internet rules, i.e. from 1 May 2016 to end of April 2017. The second set of reports covered the year from 1 May 2017 until 30 April 2018. The third set of reports covered the year from 1 May 2018 until 30 April 2019.

Commission report on open internet access

On 30 April 2019, the Commission issued a report on the implementation of the Open Internet access Regulation. The aim of the report is to review the provisions of the Regulation on open internet access. The Commission has compared the current situation with the one in 2015 and has concluded that the Regulation’s principles are appropriate and effective in protecting end-users rights and promoting the internet as an engine of innovation.

No amendments were proposed for the Regulation at this stage, in order to continue with this period of regulatory stability and in view of continuing protecting end-users rights and promoting open access to the internet.

The Commission will continue to monitor developments in the market and will issue a report of the Regulation on open internet access every four years.



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