In a Parisian speech today, Vice President of the European Commission Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes pledged that a robust net neutrality discussion is coming to Europe—and she dragged out a dreaded car analogy of her own to describe the process.

Kroes, best known for leading the EU's antitrust charge against Microsoft, now has new responsibilities, and she's ready to talk about net neutrality. Admitting that the US debate on the subject is "more advanced," Kroes chalked this up to Europe's "regulatory framework and the competitive investments that it fostered." In other words, since Europe's line-sharing policies have created substantial ISP competition in many countries, competitive pressures have made net neutrality less important.

But the time has come to start thinking about the issues, and Kroes told the conference attendees that she would launch such a consultation by summer. While pledging to come at the issue without preconceptions, she did affirm the FCC's 2005 Internet Policy Statement and its "four freedoms." The FCC is now considering two more principles: transparency and nondiscrimination. Kroes is also on board with transparency, but nondiscrimination will be the subject of the consultation.