EU countries to stand their ground in broadband law negotiations

The EU Council of Ministers is considering a timid compromise on the tacit approval principle in the EU broadband law and remains dubious about ending intra-EU call surcharges, according to an internal document seen by Euractiv.

The Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA) is a bill to introduce favourable conditions for the rollout of high-capacity networks like fibre and 5G. The draft law is at the last phase of the legislative process, so-called ‘trilogues’ between the EU Commission, Council and Parliament.

The first political trilogue is scheduled for Thursday (25 January). Ahead of this meeting, the Belgian Council presidency, representing the member states in the negotiations, will need an updated negotiating mandate from the EU ambassadors gathered in the Committee of Permanent Representatives on Wednesday (24 January).

“Tacit approval […] as proposed by the Commission, is clearly not acceptable,” reads the updated mandate, while stating that the Belgium “presidency, […] sees a possible compromise towards the Parliament in ensuring the compliance with the deadlines.”

Tacit approval

In the Council, one of the most controversial points was the principle of tacit approval whereby a permit would be granted if the administrative authority did not respond within a certain deadline.

Following insistence from several member states that considered that it contradicted the EU legal principles of subsidiarity and proportionality or interfered with their national legal systems, the tacit approval principle was removed from the Council’s mandate.

As the presidency’s document states, the ‘tacit approval’ has been rejected in the Critical Raw Materials Act and will be opposed by the Council under the Net Zero Industry Act.

Additionally, the presidency notes that “the precedent [of the tacit approval principle] is not considered relevant for the GIA” in the recently adopted Directive on the Promotion of Energy from Renewable Sources.

The Belgian negotiators, therefore, suggest either refusing the tacit approval principle or meeting the MEPs half-way. They suggest ensuring that administrative authorities comply with the deadlines “whilst giving member states a choice” between applying the tacit approval principle or not when ensuring the deadlines compliance.

The Belgian presidency further states that the Parliament deadlines are unreasonably short for authorities’ implementation and suggests sticking to the original proposition of four month instead of two months.

Interestingly, there is no mention of deadline renewals. The Commission suggested multiple possible renewals, while the Parliament wants a single renewal of three months.

The presidency’s document also states that it will “oppose any introduction of tacit approval for rights of way, due to concerns related to private property”.

The Council’s mandate deleted the paragraph obliging member states to implement rules on financial compensation for people suffering damage. The Belgian presidency wishes to keep the deletion, yet foresees re-instating compensation mechanisms when permit deadlines are not respected.

EU countries to remove 'tacit approval' for admin procedures in broadband law

The Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU circulated a 4th compromise text on a telecom law, seen by Euractiv, which deletes the provision of a “tacit approval” principle.

Intra-EU calls surcharges

The end of price surcharges on intra-EU calls is one of the European Parliament’s top political priorities ahead of the EU elections in June.

The Parliament’s leading MEP, centrist lawmaker Alin Mituța, took the opportunity of the upcoming expiration of the price cap for intra-EU calls in May to include a proposition to abolish surcharges, receiving cross-party support.

Acknowledging that this point is a priority for the Parliament, the Belgian presidency states that co-legislators will “have a first exploratory exchange of views” during the next trilogue before the Council sets its position ahead of the final trilogue on 5 February.

As Euractiv reported, the previous Spanish presidency had asked member states for their provisional position on this debate in December. Eight member states rejected the surcharge abolition, ten wanted to extend the price cap deadline, three agreed with the Parliament, and six did not express a position.

These positions are subject to changes as EU countries were still waiting for legal explanations from the Parliament and were concerned that the Parliament did not bookend the end of intra-EU calls surcharges as it did with roaming surcharges.

EU lawmakers agree ambitious compromise text on telecoms law

With the aim to bring high connectivity for all Europeans by 2030, the Parliament agreed on an ambitious text pushing towards EU harmonised rules for telecoms, abolition of extra fees for intra-EU calls and adoption of the principle of administrative tacit approval. 

Other issues

The Belgian presidency wishes to wait for the third, and likely last, trilogue on 5 February before settling the debates around a fibre-ready label advertising that fibre is available in a building.

Similarly, the debate on entry into force has also been postponed to February. The Parliament wants to set the enforcement deadline to six months after the vote, whilst the Council is pushing for 24 months.

February’s political trilogue is also set to decide on how to regulate the price of land under fair and reasonable conditions.

It seems like the Parliament and Council are set to agree on including tower companies in the scope of the telecom law. However, parts of the text’s preamble on this topic are still open for negotiations.

In technical meetings, it has been agreed to keep the Council’s mandate allowing network operators to refuse access to their ducts when dark fibre or fibre unbundling is available.

EU countries set to turn new telecom law a directive in all but name

Discussions among member states on the EU’s new telecom law point to providing countries with extensive flexibility, thus turning the regulation into a text reading more like a directive, but the main point of contention remains the ‘tacit approval’ principle.

[Edited by Luca Bertuzzi/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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