European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
internet
WIFI4EU – Promotion of internet connectivity in local communities [Plenary Podcast]
Written by Christian Scheinert, The Commission’s initiative aims at providing free access to fast internet in local communities. The European Parliament will discuss and vote on WIFI4EU in its September plenary. Background The Commission is of the opinion that the EU lags behind other industrialised nations, such as South Korea and Japan, when it comes … Continue reading
Wholesale roaming regulation: A precondition for ‘roam like at home’ [EU Legislation in Progress]
Written by Mar Negreiro (3rd edition), In 2015 the Council and European Parliament agreed in Regulation 2015/2120 that on 15 June 2017 roaming charges for mobile phone use would be abolished in the EU. After that date, ‘roam like at home’ (RLAH) would become a reality for all Europeans. The regulation did not, however, address the wholesale … Continue reading
New radio frequencies for mobile internet services [EU Legislation in Progress]
Written by Marcin Szczepański (4th edition), While radio spectrum management is predominantly a national competence, EU policy plays an increasingly important role in its coordination and harmonisation. The EU actively seeks ways to harmonise use of the different bands of the spectrum to meet the ever-growing demand for wireless mobile broadband. Nevertheless, spectrum allocation in … Continue reading
Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) [EU Legislation in Progress]
Written by Cemal Karakas (2nd edition), On 14 September 2016, the European Commission proposed an updated regulation on the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC) as part of its wider telecoms package. The new proposal aims at transforming BEREC into a single fully fledged agency. The Commission proposes allocating new tasks to BEREC … Continue reading
Towards a European gigabit society: Connectivity targets and 5G
Written by Mar Negreiro. In September 2016, the Commission put forward new strategic connectivity objectives for 2025 as part of its digital single market strategy. These should prepare Europe for the roll-out of the next generation of broadband infrastructure with gigabit speeds, including both fixed and mobile internet access (5G). Once available, from 2020 onwards, … Continue reading
WIFI4EU – Promotion of internet connectivity in local communities [EU Legislation in Progress]
Written by Christian Scheinert (2nd edition), On 14 September 2016, the Commission published a proposal for the promotion of very fast wireless internet access in local communities. This service would be provided free of charge to the public at large. The areas covered would encompass public administrations, libraries and hospitals, as well as outdoor spaces … Continue reading
Fundamental rights implications of big data [Plenary Podcast]
Written by Shara Monteleone, The development of smart devices connected online and of big data practices, allowing unprecedented availability, sharing and automated use of data, brings both opportunities in terms of efficiency and improvement in our lives and risks for individuals’ fundamental rights. The European Parliament will vote on an own-initiative report on these issues … Continue reading
A European agenda for the collaborative economy
Written by Jana Valant, The ‘collaborative economy’ – also known as the ‘sharing economy’ – enables people to share goods and services by using internet platforms and information and communications technology applications. Due to its rapid growth, the collaborative economy has recently raised regulatory issues in various sectors across the European Union (EU). It is … Continue reading
Bridging the digital divide in the EU
Written by Mar Negreiro Digital technologies play an important role in the everyday life of most Europeans; the internet allows people, businesses and governments to transform the ways they communicate and engage with one another. Yet some parts of the population are still excluded from using these new methods. Improving the EU fast broadband internet … Continue reading
EU copyright reform: Revisiting the principle of territoriality
Written by Tambiama Madiega Copyright protection is territorial since rights are normally acquired and enforced on a country-by-country basis, and exceptions and limitations to copyright protection vary from one Member State to another. However, the new digital environment increasingly characterised by the use of the internet to deliver content across borders has an impact on … Continue reading
Mass Surveillance of IT users?
Written by Peter Ide-Kostic What are the risks and opportunities for European information society? Context After the strong accusations by Edward Snowden in 2013 concerning the illicit use of mass surveillance by the US government and its partners worldwide; the LIBE committee launched an enquiry. The final report confirmed that, according to all publicly available evidence … Continue reading
What makes us human in a hyper-connected era?
Written by Darja Vrscaj On 2 December 2014, the EP’s Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) organised a workshop on ‘Being Human in a Hyper-connected Era’, focusing on the definition of what makes us human in the modern world. We are living in a hyper-connected era, where technology has penetrated every domain of society and private life. … Continue reading
EU lagging behind in fast broadband
Written by Mar Negreiro The high speed broadband gap between the EU and U.S is widening as the U.S performs better than the EU in most broadband metrics: this is the main message from the publication: U.S. vs. European Broadband Deployment: What Do the Data Say?, presented by its author in a meeting at the … Continue reading
Being human in a hyper-connected era – The onlife initiative
Written by Peter Ide-Kostic Webstreaming available here 02/12/2014 at 5pm Discuss it via Twitter: #OnlifeEU The “Onlife Initiative”, a project launched by the Commission’s DG-CONNECT, explores the societal consequences of on-going digital transition. DG-CONNECT will present the conclusions of this project during a STOA workshop in the European Parliament on 2 December 2014. The STOA workshop takes as … Continue reading
Security of the Internet, including e-Government, cloud computing and social networks
As we become increasingly dependent on the internet for all aspects of our lives, how can Europe on the web work best while ensuring that everyone can trust online services? STOA has examined the latest technological advances with regard to the internet and information technologies in Europe. STOA is the Science and Technology Options Assessment … Continue reading
STOA: providing scientific advice to the European Parliament
STOA is the Science and Technology Options Assessment body, established in 1987 and now part of the European Parliament Research Services Directorate General. STOA provides Members and Committees of the European Parliament with independent, science-based evidence for policy making. It carries out projects to assess the impact of introducing or promoting new technologies and the … Continue reading
New technologies and open educational resources
Transforming education requires pedagogical, organisational and technological innovation. Increasing use of the Internet brought in a new era in course design and delivery to the mainstream model of traditional education. That is particularly so for open educational resources. Background Open educational resources (OERs) first appeared within the wider ‘Openness’ movement in the mid 1980s, based … Continue reading
Net neutrality in Europe
Net neutrality means that data communications over a network are all processed in the same way, regardless of sender, receiver, application or content. This principle, and the fact that participating networks only make their ‘best effort’ to transmit all data, has historically underpinned the internet. However increasing demand for internet traffic, new applications that require … Continue reading
Common European Sales Law
6 language versions available in PDF format Gemeinsames Europäisches Kaufrecht Normativa común de compraventa europea Droit commun européen de la vente Diritto comune europeo della vendita Wspólne europejskie przepisy dotyczące sprzedaży Common European sales law The proposed Common European Sales Law (CESL) is intended to create a uniform set of contract rules available to traders … Continue reading
Cloud computing & Social Networks
Cloud Computing and Social Network Sites (SNS) are among some of the most controversially discussed developments in recent years. The opportunities of using powerful computing resources on demand via the web are considered as a possible driver for the growth of the European economy. Continue reading
