The eco Brussels Breakfast took place on the 19 March in the European Parliament, with Nadja Hirsch (MEP) as host, together with eco. Over 40 participants came, including members of the European Parliament and their staff, and representatives of companies, to inform themselves on the issue “The future of Internet Governance – Who governs the Internet?”.
Internet Governance has developed just recently into one of the hot topics which will determine the international net-political agenda in the coming years. With the announcement that the American Government intends to give up its supervisory role over the Internet administrator ICANN, the question of a fundamental reform in Internet administration and new international supervisory structures has gained in importance and drive. The EU Commission has also put the leadership-function of the USA into question, and in its communication published on 12 February it calls for a more global control of the Internet. In April, representatives from politics, industry and the civil society will be meeting in São Paulo at the “Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance” to negotiate a roadmap for the development of a new Internet Governance system.
In her welcoming speech, Nadja Hirsch, MEP, referred to the developments of the previous weeks and pointed out the importance of the topic Internet Governance for the citizens of the European community. The process of transformation of the Internet administrator ICANN and the future design of the supervisory structures will help to shape the further development of the digital society, and as such will influence citizens’ daily life, in which the Internet is gaining increasing importance. She argued that it is important to ensure and guarantee data protection and privacy, as well as freedom of opinion and civil liberty. With this as backdrop, the European Union would need to take a leading role on the questions of future Internet Governance and the administration and regulation of the Internet, and position itself on an international level in the discussion.
In his speech, Oliver Süme, eco Director of Policy and Law and President of EuroISPA, explained the topic Internet Governance and its importance for the Internet industry, and gave an overview of the organizations that are involved in the administration of the Internet, like ICANN and IANA, and their responsibilities. In this context, he also explained the technical and administrative organization of the allocation of Top-Level Domains and IP addresses. In the eyes of the Internet industry, according to Süme, the stability, capacity and resilience of Internet infrastructure should be in the foreground during the process of transformation for the Internet administrator ICANN. For this, he said, it is necessary to continue the long-standing self-regulation of Internet resources and standards. The established Internet Governance structures should be expanded and improved. This would, however, require a legitimization process.
Andrea Glorioso, who is responsible for the topic Internet Governance in the European Union Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, gave an overview of the EU Commission proposals on Internet policy and Internet Governance published in the communication. He commented on the advantages, also from the economic perspective, of a global, non-fragmented Internet. He said that the Commission is taking a positive and supportive approach in questions of Internet Governance, which is aimed at strengthening European companies in the Internet industry, especially European Cloud providers. He sees it as important to have a common basic understanding, and coherent Internet Governance policies and principles. For the Commission, the guarantee and protection of human rights and basic freedoms are a central concern, as are data protection, trust and security in the Internet. He said that the American government’s announcement of their intention to relinquish the supervisory role of the Internet administrator ICANN has been welcomed by the Commission. He commented that, for the reform and globalization of ICANN, a multistakeholder approach, which would require clear regulations and structures, would be preferred as a matter of principle.