Ahead of the Council deliberations on the much-awaited “Connected Continent” legislation on Friday, the EBU urges EU Member States to move forward on the proposal to make Europe the first continent with a comprehensive net neutrality framework.

“EU Member States are at historic crossroads: they have the possibility to enshrine net neutrality in EU law and make the continent a global champion of digital rights and online innovation”, said EBU Head of European Affairs Nicola Frank.

Referring to the recent report on the state of play of Council discussions, she added: “Member States should not hide behind the technical complexity of the proposal to deprive their citizens of a fundamental principle in the digital age. If all national delegations support the principle of the open Internet and agree that the right balance needs to be struck between net neutrality and reasonable traffic management, then the text adopted by the European Parliament in April provides an excellent basis.”

Discussions on the Connected Continent are expected to continue under the Italian Presidency of the EU starting on 1 July.