FinalAmendments

After several months of negotiations, between the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Parliament, the European Parliament will vote on the compromise text in plenary session on 27 and 28 October!

Here is the list of amendments to be supported by MEPs to save Net Neutrality and fight against discrimination on the Internet.

The official list of amendments is published on the European Parliament website

Amendement 2

Council position

Amendment

(3) The internet has developed over the past decades as an open platform for innovation with low access barriers for end-users, providers of content, applications and services and providers of internet access services. The existing regulatory framework aims to promote the ability of end-users to access and distribute information or run applications and services of their choice. However, a significant number of end-users are affected by traffic management practices which block or slow down specific applications or services. Those tendencies require common rules at the Union level to ensure the openness of the internet and to avoid fragmentation of the internal market resulting from measures adopted by individual Member States.

(3) The internet has developed over the past decades as an open platform for innovation with low access barriers for end-users, providers of content, applications and services and providers of internet access services. The principle of ‘net neutrality’ in the open internet means that traffic should be treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independent of the sender, receiver, type, content, device, service or application. As stated in the European Parliament resolution of 17 November 2011 on the open internet and net neutrality in Europe, the internet's open character has been a key driver of competitiveness, economic growth, social development and innovation – which has led to spectacular levels of development in online applications, content and services – and thus of growth in the offer of, and demand for, content and services, and has made it a vitally important accelerator in the free circulation of knowledge, ideas and information, including in countries where access to independent media is limited. The existing regulatory framework aims to promote the ability of end-users to access and distribute information or run applications and services of their choice. However, a significant number of end-users are affected by traffic management practices which block or slow down specific applications or services. Those tendencies require common rules at the Union level to ensure the openness of the internet and to avoid fragmentation of the internal market resulting from measures adopted by individual Member States.

Amendement 13

Council position	Amendment
5. Providers of electronic communications to the public, including providers of internet access services, and providers of content, applications and services shall be free to offer services other than internet access services which are optimised for specific content, applications or services, or a combination thereof, where the optimisation is necessary in order to meet requirements of the content, applications or services for a specific level of quality.	Providers of electronic communications to the public, including providers of internet access services, may offer or facilitate such services only if the network capacity is sufficient to provide them in addition to any internet access services provided. Such services shall not be usable or offered as a replacement for internet access services, and shall not be to the detriment of the availability or general quality of internet access services for end-users.	5. Providers of electronic communications to the public, including providers of internet access services, and providers of content, applications and services shall be free to offer services that cannot be provided via internet access services which are optimised for specific content, applications or services, or a combination thereof, where the optimisation is necessary in order to meet requirements of the content, applications or services for a specific level of quality. Providers of internet access to users shall not discriminate between functionally equivalent services and applications.	Providers of electronic communications to the public, including providers of internet access services, may offer or facilitate such services only if the network capacity is sufficient to provide them in addition to any internet access services provided. Such services shall not be usable or offered as a replacement for internet access services or content, applications, or services available over internet access services, and shall not be to the detriment of the availability or general quality of internet access services for end-users.

Justification This amendment tries to accommodate the different positions of the three institutions and reflect the intention of the legislators. This amendment clarifies the position agreed within informal trialogues.