<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//ABISOURCE//DTD XHTML plus AWML 2.2//EN" "http://www.abisource.com/2004/xhtml-awml/xhtml-awml.mod"><div>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:awml="http://www.abisource.com/2004/xhtml-awml/">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="application/xhtml+xml; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>
Abiword HTML Document
</title>
<style type="text/css">
<!-- #toc,
.toc,
.mw-warning {
border: 1px solid #aaa;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
padding: 5px;
font-size: 95%;
}
#toc h2,
.toc h2 {
display: inline;
border: none;
padding: 0;
font-size: 100%;
font-weight: bold;
}
#toc #toctitle,
.toc #toctitle,
#toc .toctitle,
.toc .toctitle {
text-align: center;
}
#toc ul,
.toc ul {
list-style-type: none;
list-style-image: none;
margin-left: 0;
padding-left: 0;
text-align: left;
}
#toc ul ul,
.toc ul ul {
margin: 0 0 0 2em;
}
#toc .toctoggle,
.toc .toctoggle {
font-size: 94%;
}p, h1, h2, h3, li {
font-family:'Times New Roman';
font-size:11.000000pt;
margin-bottom:8.000000pt;
}
*._normal {
font-size:12.000000pt;
margin-bottom:0.000000pt;
}
*.cover_date {
color:#ffffff;
font-size:10.000000pt;
}
*.document_title {
color:#ffffff;
font-size:21.000000pt;
}
*.footer {
font-size:6.000000pt;
}
*.header {
font-size:6.000000pt;
}
body{
padding-top : 1in;
padding-bottom : 1in;
padding-left : 1in;
padding-right : 1in;
font-size:11.000000pt;
font-family:'Times New Roman';
} -->
</style>
</head>
<body> <p class="header" style="text-align:right" awml:style="header">
<span style="font-size:9pt">2</span>
</p>
<p class="header" style="margin-right:18.000000pt" awml:style="header">
European Regional Bureau Newsletter: 7 October – 13 October 2017
</p>
<p awml:style="Document title">
</p>
<p awml:style="Document title">
</p>
<p awml:style="Document title">
</p>
<p awml:style="Cover date">
</p>
<p awml:style="Cover date">
</p>
<p awml:style="header">
</p>
<p awml:style="footer">
</p>
<p awml:style="footer">
</p>
</body> <div>
<p style="text-align:justify;margin-bottom:10.000000pt">
<a name="_Hlk478029639">
<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Internet Access</span>
</a>
</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Council ready to start talks with Parliament on telecoms reform</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On October 11, the Council approved a general mandate for the Estonian Presidency to begin trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament on the European Electronic Communications Code.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The result of these trilogue negotiations will provide the framework for the telecommunications sector for years to come, whether in terms of access to networks, consumer protection rules, or governance.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Parliament reached its own position on the telecoms framework just last week.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Main points of difference between the two institutions include spectrum, whether the Parliament is in favour of greater co-ordination and harmonisation, as well as</span> <a name="_GoBack">
</a>
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on co-investment, where the council is in favour of a regime that is more favourable for incumbent telecoms operators.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The first trilogue discussions will take place on 25 October.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Council adopts WiFi4EU</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On October 9, European ministers for telecommunications adopted the</span> <a href="http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/PE-28-2017-INIT/en/pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">WiFi4EU</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> regulation. Under this new initiative, the EU will invest up to €120 million to help municipalities, hospitals and other public bodies set up free wireless hot-spots across the region.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Urve Palo, Estonian Minister for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology,</span> <a href="http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2017/10/09-free-wifii4eu-internet-hotspots/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">claimed</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> that the scheme “will make high-quality Internet more accessible for many citizens and could even trigger a virtuous investment cycle.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: DIGITALEUROPE views on 5G spectrum options for the EU</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">DIGITALEUROPE, the European organisation representing the digital technology industry, has published a</span> <a href="http://www.digitaleurope.org/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?Command=Core_Download&EntryId=2536&language=en-US&PortalId=0&TabId=353"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">report</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> providing recommendations on the way forward regarding the allocation and licensing methods for 5G spectrum for Europe.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">DIGITALEUROPE stresses the importance of 5G deployment as a key enabler of digital transformation, and sets out specific recommendations for different 5G bands.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The paper also claims that licensing mechanisms should be chosen carefully in order to achieve harmonisation of licenses (duration, price, spectrum packaging and availability, regulatory conditions) across Europe.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: BEREC addresses net neutrality opt-in tools during plenary session</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">During its plenary meeting on October 11, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) decided to develop a net neutrality measurement tool to help National Regulator Authorities (NRAs) and end-users to measure the quality of fixed or mobile Internet access and implement BEREC’s guidelines on net-neutrality. BEREC will also provide a tool to detect illegal content online. A public consultation on its proposal runs until November 8.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">BEREC has published a</span> <a href="http://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/download/0/7296-net-neutrality-measurement-tool-specific_0.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">report</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on specifications for such tools and plans to launch a tender for the development of the applications in the first quarter of 2018.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Also during its plenary, BEREC announced the launch of several other public consultations, including on</span> <a href="https://consultations.berec.europa.eu/en/page/berec"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">a report analysing the impact of content and devices on the telecoms market</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">; a preliminary report on</span> <a href="http://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/download/0/7300-draft-berec-preliminary-report-in-view-o_0.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">monitoring of mobile coverage</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">; and its</span> <a href="http://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/download/0/7292-draft-berec-work-programme-2018_0.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">work programme</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> for 2018.</span> <p style="text-align:justify;margin-bottom:10.000000pt">
<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Trust</span>
</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU:</span><span style="font-family:'Hind Light'"></span><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">New Estonian Presidency text on ePrivacy</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On October 6, the Estonian Presidency released a revised</span> <a href="http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-12955-2017-INIT/en/pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">text</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on the draft Regulation concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications (ePrivacy Regulation).</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Compared to previous versions, the Presidency tried to clarify the interplay between the ePrivacy Regulation and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), while also making changes to the rules for ancillary services and machine-to-machine communication.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The text has been provided by the Estonian Presidency ahead of the telecommunications working party meeting on 18 October, at which point negotiations between Member States over the changes to these privacy rules will continue.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU:</span><span style="font-family:'Hind Light'"></span><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Polish PM announces cybersecurity department</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">During the</span> <a href="https://cybersecforum.eu/en/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Third European Cybersecurity Forum</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> (CYBERSEC 2017) in Krakow, on October 9, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo</span> <a href="https://twitter.com/PremierRP_en/status/917404873401958406"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">announced</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> her intention to create a department to analyse and monitor cybersecurity.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The PM added that an expert team was needed in her chancellery in order to be able to better address the current cybersecurity challenges.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The department will be chaired by Pawel Szefernaker, Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and a potential successor to Anna Strezynska as Polish Minister of Digital Affairs.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Commissioner for the Security Union addresses Cybersecurity Forum</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Julian King, the Commissioner for the Security Union addressed the European Cybersecurity Forum on October 9.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">He presented the Commission’s recent package of cybersecurity measures, explaining the division of priorities between resilience, deterrence, and defence and international cooperation.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Among other things, he addressed the “cyber security skills gap", a shortfall which is currently estimated to reach 350,000 people by 2022.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Ireland: Data Protection Commissioner receives €4 million additional funding</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set to enter into force in May 2018, the Irish Government has announced an additional funding of €4 million for the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC). The increase brings the total funding allocation for 2018 for the DPC to almost €11.7 million.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Irish DPC Helen Dixon stated this will help the DPC to “take on an increasingly leading role in the regulation of the personal data processing activities” and to be more independent.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The additional funding will also be used for awareness raising campaigns and initiatives.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Netherlands: Dutch government announces ambitious cyber strategy</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In a coalition agreement released on October 10, the recently formed Dutch government coalition has announced its plan for the next four years, with IT security prominent.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Government aims at developing an ambitious cyber strategy, starting by providing €95 million of structural funding to strengthen its digital capacity. An extra €275m a year will be invested into digital forces within the Dutch army, as from 2020, to “increase cyber capacity” in the armed forces.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Moreover, the government will limit the purchases of the hacking software it uses, and develop standards for Internet of Things products, as well as implementing liability rules for software.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Digital Commissioner Gabriel answers parliamentary question on Microsoft vulnerabilities and the EU</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On October 12, Digital European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel answered a</span> <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+WQ+E-2017-004294+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=en"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">parliamentary question</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">, by Dutch Liberal MEP Marietje Schaake, on the vulnerabilities of Microsoft and the need to secure the European Institutions’ communications, data and critical infrastructures.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Commissioner Gabriel</span> <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/questions/reponses_qe/2017/004294/P8_RE(2017)004294_EN.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">said</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> the Commission works to methodically ensure that only vendor supported software is in use and that vulnerabilities are patched as quickly as possible by adopting the necessary relevant updates.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Commissioner Gabriel also stated that the total amount of the contracts between the Commission and Microsoft is about €6.23 million per year.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Commission presents Cybersecurity package to the EP IMCO Committee</span>
</p>
<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On October 12, the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) received a presentation from the European Commission on the Cybersecurity package published in September.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">During the discussion, DG CONNECT’s Deputy Director-General Claire Bury</span> <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/129341/PPT cybersecurity.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">stated</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> that, with regards to the proposed cybersecurity certification framework, the two main problems were the fragmented approach EU countries have on this issue and the lack of practical schemes, given the different needs in different sectors. The Commission believed that a voluntary scheme was the best way to address this.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Presenting the Proposal for a Regulation on the Free Flow of Non-personal Data, Claire Bury identified the data localisation requirements by EU countries, and the lack of trust due to security risks and legal uncertainties as the main obstacles to data mobility.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">She noted that end-to-end encryption was not covered within the initiatives presented as “it should be dealt with in the telecoms regulation”.</span> <p class="header" style="text-align:right" awml:style="header">
</p>
<p class="header" style="margin-right:18.000000pt" awml:style="header">
</p>
<p awml:style="Document title">
</p>
<p awml:style="Document title">
</p>
<p awml:style="Document title">
</p>
<p awml:style="Cover date">
</p>
<p awml:style="Cover date">
</p>
<p awml:style="header">
</p>
<p awml:style="footer">
</p>
<p awml:style="footer">
<div>
</div>
<p awml:style="footer">
</p>
</p>
</div>
</html>
</div>