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European member states may be keen to water down current net neutrality proposals and push back against the centralization of radio spectrum policy in the EU, but new digital single market chief Andrus Ansip isn’t having any of it. In a speech on Monday, he adopted a tough stance on these issues, and on the abolition of roaming fees for those travelling within the EU. Ansip also told the member states to hurry up so the proposals can be become reality.

Ansip told telecoms providers at the GSMA Mobile 360 conference in Brussels that the concept of net neutrality “has to be solid and clearly defined.” Member states are more keen on unenforceable principles that can be interpreted differently in different countries, but Ansip noted that “if 28 countries have 28 different approaches, it makes the market even more fragmented.”

On spectrum, member states are trying to stop the Commission gathering any more powers of coordination. Ansip argued: “The more this natural resource is divided, the less efficient it is. Ideally, EU countries should be working together much more on allocating spectrum. After all, radio waves know no borders. Why should the internet? We don’t need national fragmentation of internet traffic.”

Ansip said roaming fees for travel between EU countries were “an irritant and an anomaly”. He said he “will continue to push for an end to roaming surcharges in Europe” because “they have no place in the telecoms and digital single markets that Europe so badly needs.” Member states want to see “fair use” policies inserted into current legislative proposals for allowing people to use roaming data within their domestic tariffs.

The Council of the EU, representing the member states’ governments, represents the last hurdle in the European legislative process. The debate over the Telecoms Package, proposed by Ansip’s predecessor, Neelie Kroes, is now heading into the new year. Ansip said he hoped an agreement could be reached within months. “Otherwise, I fear that we may lose momentum,” he said.

So far, the Council hasn’t even begun negotiations with the European Parliament over the package, as it must. Ansip pointed out that the Council itself had pushed for a single EU telecoms market, and suggested that the telcos should also be keen to see this creation because would aid cross-border consolidation and allow them to offer services across the EU.

“It is up to those in the market to invest in the necessary infrastructure. However, the market cannot always provide all that is needed. That’s where public authorities have a role to play,” he said. “Firstly, by providing the right and adequate regulatory environment, which we plan to achieve through the Digital Single Market strategy. And secondly, by incentivizing and leveraging more private investment.”

A single telecoms market is of course a necessary base for a single digital market. Beyond what Kroes had already proposed regarding telecoms, Ansip called for simplified rules on online purchases, an end to the geo-blocking of digital services, and the reform of Europe’s copyright rules.