Brussels, 29 January 2020 – EuroISPA calls on decision-makers to swiftly agree on a comprehensive deal covering digital services and ensuring data adequacy, as the United Kingdom withdraws from the European Union.

Dr Maximilian Schubert, President of EuroISPA, declared: “As the Brexit talks continue to shape the future of the relationship between the EU and the UK, EuroISPA urges both sides to ensure that the Internet will remain a key connecting factor for Europe. The Internet has been a major force for economic growth and business innovation, enhancing productivity and efficiency, and bringing consumers new and more affordable goods and services. In the EU this has been underpinned by the common regulatory environment of the Digital Single Market, which reduces regulatory barriers between countries just as the Internet reduces technical barriers. When designing the future relationship, we urge both sides to avoid erecting new barriers that would inhibit this growth, and instead look for each side to learn from the other as we create our digital future.”

Going forward, EuroISPA calls on the UK and the EU to swiftly negotiate and agree upon a trade deal which will redefine their relationship. Such an agreement should ensure the highest degree of harmonisation possible in terms of digital policy, in order to ensure that European ISPs can offer services to European citizens, regardless of whether they live in the EU or in the UK. In particular, data adequacy should be preserved, in order to secure the free flow of data between the two entities.

Stakeholders from the UK have made extremely important contributions to the development of innovation and pro-competitive EU ICT policy for many years. EuroISPA and its member associations are committed to ensuring that the borderless character of the Internet remains intact, and will work to develop innovation-friendly policy that benefits both the UK and the EU Member States.

Brussels, 13 November 2019: EuroISPA has published its guiding principles for policy development in the context of the possible revision of the current EU intermediary liability framework.

As the discussions around the reopening of the E-Commerce Directive intensify in Brussels and the new Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, sets the Digital Services Act as priority in the Commission’s political agenda, EuroISPA puts forward a set of guiding principles for a sensible policy development in the field of intermediary liability.

Maximilian Schubert, President of EuroISPA, said: “The upcoming revision of the e-commerce directive is an unprecedented opportunity for the EU to develop a forward-looking legislation that embraces innovation and allows the EU Internet industry to remain competitive in the global digital markets. EuroISPA’s members look forward to working with EU policymakers to ensure that legal certainty, trust and confidence in the Digital Single Market are preserved and that the EU legislative framework allows the very diverse European Internet ecosystem to continue unfolding its full potential for growth and jobs in Europe.”

Malcolm Hutty, Chair of the Intermediary Liability Committee of EuroISPA commented: “The existing EU intermediary liability ethos has allowed Europe’s digital economy to thrive and thus, EuroISPA’s Intermediary Liability Committee has worked to put together a consensus position that reflects on the fundamental aspects to consider when revising the rulebook for digital services. This consensus is been translated into a set of 17 principles that put liability protections as the key structural element of all digital services.”

With these principles, EuroISPA’s members propose a business oriented and innovation-friendly approach that safeguards the rights of users and service providers.

You can download the paper here.

About EuroISPA: EuroISPA is the world’s largest association of Internet Services Providers (ISPs), representing over 2,500 ISPs across the EU and EFTA countries. EuroISPA is recognised as the voice of the EU ISP industry, reflecting the views of ISPs of all sizes from across its member base.

Brussels, 7 October 2019: The UK, Australia, and the United States asked Facebook and other companies to delay their plans to implement end-to-end encryption across their messaging services and to provide law enforcement with lawful access to their users’ encrypted content. In this context, EuroISPA reiterates its support for strong encryption, a fundamental element to ensure cybersecurity and users’ privacy.

On 4 October 2019, high ranking officials from the UK, Australia and the USA addressed a letter to Facebook requesting it does “not proceed with its plan to implement end-to-end encryption across its messaging services without providing […] means for lawful access to the content of communications to protect our citizens.”

Maximilian Schubert, President of EuroISPA and Chair of the Cybersecurity Committee, reacted: “EuroISPA’s members continuously work with law enforcement towards making the online sphere a safer space for businesses as well as individuals. At the same time, EuroISPA firmly supports strong encryption, as it plays a fundamental role in ensuring cybersecurity and users’ privacy”.

End-to-end encryption in messaging services, as well as cryptographic protocols such as TLS (Transport Layer Security) and HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), are essential for creating trust in the Internet. The now suggested techniques aim to allow law enforcement to access private communications. Experience has however shown that such measures will always be exploited by ill-intentioned hackers, undermining cybersecurity and privacy for all users and businesses online. This would weaken that very trust and might result in a slower take-up of online services throughout the EU.

Therefore, given the societal advantages of encryption and the negative effects of mandatory backdoors, EuroISPA opposes the request of the United Kingdom, Australia, as well as the United States. EuroISPA’s members stand ready to collaborate with law enforcement authorities to assist them in criminal investigations.