As EU Telecommunications Ministers began their meeting, a wide coalition of consumer groups, digital-rights organisations and industry representatives voiced strong concerns about the European Commission’s proposed telecom regulatory framework. They warned the new measures could threaten the open internet and upset competitive balance in the EU telecom market.
Those concerns are particularly urgent given the existing EU Regulation on open internet access, which has been in force since 2016. That regulation protects end-users’ rights to access and share lawful content freely and requires non-discriminatory traffic management across member states. These principles form the baseline for assessing any new policy proposals, and stakeholders fear the Commission’s plans risk weakening those protections.
In a joint statement, the coalition urged Member States to uphold pro-competition policies consistent with the open-internet regulation and to reject unnecessary or harmful regulatory interventions. The Commission’s recent white paper on Europe’s digital infrastructure needs outlines possible scenarios that, according to critics, may conflict with the regulation’s non-discrimination rules and could harm consumers and the broader economy.
At the Telecommunications Council meeting, signatories including the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) flagged specific Commission priorities as potentially dangerous. One major worry is the proposal to introduce dispute-resolution mechanisms in the IP interconnection market. Critics say such mechanisms could create de facto network-usage fees—reminiscent of earlier calls by telecom lobbyists for “fair share” payments that current EU guidance rejected.
The white paper also considers widening the scope of obligations under the European Electronic Communications Code to include cloud service providers, despite their different roles compared with traditional telecom operators. At the same time, it contemplates easing obligations on former telecom monopolies. Stakeholders warn these shifts could weaken competition and raise costs for consumers and businesses, running counter to the regulation’s intent to ensure equal treatment and fair market conditions.
Daniel Friedlaender, CCIA Europe’s senior vice president and head of office, stressed that many of these proposals were already dismissed by a majority of stakeholders, including EU telecom regulators (BEREC) and member states. He criticised the Commission for appearing to side with large telecom operators in ways that could undermine Europe’s competitive position, harm open-internet principles and ultimately disadvantage European users.
Maria Teresa Stecher, CCIA Europe’s policy manager, called for evidence-based policymaking. “We don’t need recycled ideas that were rejected before,” she said, urging that any new scenarios be supported by thorough impact assessments and inclusive public consultation. This approach mirrors the careful enforcement of the EU’s open-internet regulation, which is overseen by national regulatory authorities following BEREC guidance.
By connecting current objections to established rules, the coalition aims to clarify the stakes and underline the need for rigorous scrutiny of any proposed changes. Stakeholders insist that new regulatory options must be evaluated against existing EU digital-rights protections and competition safeguards to avoid unintended harm to consumers, innovators and the internal market.
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