2015 was a year of change and turmoil in European network and Internet policy. eco – Association of the Internet Industry e. V. looks back at the four most important network policy developments and decisions at the European level. “2015 was a year of surprises. From the perspective of digital policy, there was a lot of movement – but not all of it was in the right direction,” summarized Oliver Süme, eco Director of Policy & Law. “The year made it particularly clear that we find ourselves in a period of upheaval. In connection with increasing digitalization in all areas of life, issues are surfacing which cannot be resolved using existing regulatory frameworks. Whether we’re looking at copyright, data protection, security or the regulation of media – the policy concepts with which we could shape and regulate digital daily life are missing,” explains Süme.
These issues are landing in the courts more and more frequently. “That is not a good tendency. The industry needs basic and reliable regulatory concepts for digital policy – not a loose-leaf compilation of case-by-case decisions.”
Looking Back: The four most important European digital policy developments in 2015
- Safe Harbor
The case of the Safe Harbor Agreement means considerable legal uncertainty for many companies. eco recommends that all companies that store data on US American servers or regularly transfer data to the US should examine their business practices and adapt them if necessary. The EU Commission and the USA now need to come to a new agreement which sets high data protection standards and at the same time creates a practical solution for companies. The German Federal Government must also get involved in this debate.
- General Data Protection Regulation
On 15 December, the EU Member States agreed on a final version of the General Data Protection Regulation, after almost four years of tough negotiations. From the perspective of the industry, this is, in principle, a welcome development, even though it is clear that enormous costs will be incurred by the companies for the changeover to new IT systems, documentation and interfaces in the next two years. However, from 2018 they will finally have access to a large European market with a unified level of data protection. This means, hopefully, more legal certainty and considerable potential for savings of time and money in the long term that is currently spent on adapting to the various data protection standards of the Member States.
- Security
The European Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive was passed in December. Member States must now implement this in the context of national law. In the case of Germany, the Federal Government will need to ensure that there is harmonization with the IT Security Act, also passed in 2015. Internet companies require a reliable and sustainable legal framework.
- Copyright
The EU Commission intends to make copyright law more consistent within the single market, and at the same time to adapt it to new technological developments. From the perspective of the industry, it is important to ensure that the necessary reform of copyright to the needs of the information society is not coupled with a further strengthening of the enforcement of Intellectual Property rights. Rather, the chances and the potential of the Internet and digitalization should be in the foreground and be taken advantage of. As a result, a balance of interests is needed between the creators, the rights owners, users, citizens, and companies in the Internet industry.
