Joint statement on the publication of the European Commission’s evaluation report on Europe’s net neutrality rules

Today, on 30 April 2019, two years after the new net neutrality rules came into force, the EU Commission published its Report to evaluate their implementation in Europe.

Unfortunately, the Report does not give the in-depth analysis of the situation that one could have hoped for. It ignores the fact that the respect for net neutrality protections has deteriorated across the EU in the past years, as shown by a recent study carried out by EDRi member Epicenter.works.

29 human and civil rights organisations therefore addressed an open letter to the EU Commission and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).

The letter points out that it is now more critical than ever for the EU institutions to ensure that users and online businesses in Europe benefit from equal and non-discriminatory treatment of traffic in the provision of internet access services. The upcoming review of BEREC’s net neutrality guidelines will be an opportunity to work towards a true Digital Single Market that protects and promotes an open, neutral and non-discriminatory access to the internet.

EDRi, along with 28 other signatories of the letter will continue to closely monitor and contribute to the review process of the guidelines for a harmonised implementation which will start in the second half of 2019.