[Advocacy Advisors] EU Policy Monintoring Report - January

Wed Jan 29 13:13:50 UTC 2014

Thank you for this helpful report and the work that goes into it!

On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 12:59 AM, Dimitar Parvanov Dimitrov <
dimitar.parvanov.dimitrov at gmail.com> wrote:

> Wikimedia and the EU
>
> January Report
>
> Welcome to 2014!
>
> We're expecting a really busy first quarter in Brussels and then some
> peace and quiet around the European Parliament elections in May. Great
> opportunity to get one's homework done.
>
> Dimi
>
> tl;dr
>
> Just one more week to go until the Copyright Consultation by the
> Commission closes. At the same time the data protection reform has
> officially been postponed for the next legislative period. Surprisingly,
> the network neutrality dossier is moving along at a steady pace.
>
> This and past reports at
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor/MR
>
> ToC
>
> 1. Copyright Consultation
>
> 2. Committee Vote on the EU Single Market for Electronic Communications
>
> 3. EU Data Protection Regulation Delayed
>
> -----------------
> -----------------
>
> #copyright #reform
>
> 1. EU Commission Copyright Consultation
>
> Why is this relevant?
>
> Consultations by the European Commission are usually the first step along
> a windy path leading up to a legislation proposal. The current Copyright
> Consultation [1] is, and this is rare, asking all the right questions. This
> includes points that directly concern the public domain in general and key
> issues for the Free Knowledge movement - like Freedom of Panorama and
> Orphan Works - in particular.
>
> What happened?
>
> On behalf of Wikimedia, we have decided to make two parallel but distinct
> efforts to produce answers for the consultation. Participants in the Free
> Knowledge Advocacy Group EU [2] prepared an answering guide in a more
> intimate work group. [3] These answers are meant to be used by European
> chapters, individuals and third parties.
>
> Simultaneously, the consultation was wikified and presented on Meta-Wiki,
> [4] where everybody worldwide was given the opportunity to contribute
> answers. The final version of these responses is meant to be submitted by
> the Wikimedia Foundation, but can of course also be used by anybody else.
>
> Although separate, the two strategies were meant to complement each other.
> The huge overlap and compatibility of the results prove that this was
> indeed the case. We were simply unsure what would work best and decided to
> test the pros and cons of both methods.
>
> What comes next?
>
> The submission deadline is 5.02.2014. It usually takes the Commission a
> few months to analyse the responses and organise an event where the results
> are presented and the next steps in the legislation procedure are
> announced.
>
> Meanwhile, we're planning to analyse our working methods at the Wikimedia
> Conference [5] in Berlin (10-13.04) and at a EU policy strategy meeting in
> Brussels (tbc, 25-27.04).
>
> -----------------
> -----------------
>
> #NN #ConnectedContinent
>
> 2. EP Committee Vote on EU Single Market for Electronic Communications
>
> Why is this relevant?
>
> The European Commission proposed a new "Connected Continent" package [6],
> which also deals with the issue of what kind of services ISPs may provide.
> The apple of discord is whether the proposed "specialised services",
> allowing telecoms to offer higher speeds to websites and services willing
> to pay extra for it, constitute a breach of the "net neutrality" principle
> or not. Network neutrality is the idea that all data on the internet should
> be equally treated by intermediaries.
>
> What happened?
>
> The Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) passed
> several amendments in its report to better define the proposed "specialised
> services", thereby closing several possible loopholes [7] that would have
> effectively lead to a two-speeds internet.
>
> What comes next?
>
> There are two more EP Committees to vote on this dossier in February -
> Civil Liberties (LIBE) and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). [8]
> Especially the latter one might take a significantly different position
> from the amendments adopted by IMCO. ITRE and IMCO are the leading
> Committees on this dossier
>
> -----------------
> -----------------
>
> #EUdataP
>
> 3. Data Protection Regulation Delayed Until After EP Elections
>
> Why is this relevant?
>
> The European Union is trying to update its data protection rules. The new
> framework would also define what data online service providers (including
> websites like Wikipedia) would be allowed to collect and how they would
> have to process it.
>
> What happened?
>
> A number of Member States (UK, Hungary, Denmark, Slovenia, Germany,
> Belgium and Sweden) are hindering the approval of the current proposal.
> While Germany is simply trying to delay the entire process claiming the
> proposed text falls short of its current legislation, the UK is pushing to
> degrade the Regulation to a Directive. This means that the dossier is
> effectively blocked and needs to be re-negotiated between the European
> Parliament and the Council (i.e. Member States).
>
> A Directive would give Member States some room to include local
> interpretations into the data protection framework, thereby reducing
> harmonisation and, most likely, user protection.
>
> What comes next?
>
> As the European Parliament elections are going to be held in May 2014,
> this effectively means that new legislation before the end of this year is
> not very likely to pass.
>
> Further reading: [9][10]
>
> -----------------
> -----------------
>
> [1]
> http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2013/copyright-rules/docs/consultation-document_en.pdf
>
> [2]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy
>
> [3]http://youcan.fixcopyright.eu/en/full/?guide=wikimedia
>
> [4]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/European_Commission_copyright_consultation
>
> [5]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2014/Programme#Advocacy.2C_EU_policy_group
>
> [6]
> https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/regulation-european-parliament-and-council-laying-down-measures-concerning-european-single
>
> [7]
> https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2014/01/23/third-european-vote-on-the-telecom-single-market-one-more-step-towards-net-
>
> [8]
> http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2013/0309%28COD%29
>
> [9]
> http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/October/data-protection-reforms-delayed-but-2015-deadline-gives-time-to-get-new-rules-right-says-expert/
>
> [10]
> http://www.mondaq.com/x/283634/data+protection/On+Hold+EU+Data+Protection+Reform+Delayed
>
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>

-- 
Geoff Brigham
General Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
+1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6750
gbrigham at wikimedia.org

*California Registered In-House Counsel*

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