EU Parliament Workshop on Community Networks and Telecom Regulation

Date: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 -
9:00am to 12:00pm

netCommons is proud to announce that it is co-organising with Commons Network a workshop on Community Networks at the European Parliament on October 17th, 2017.

Edit: the video recordings of all presentations and discussions are now available!

Here is the programme:

EU Parliament Workshop on
Community Networks and Telecom Regulation  

17 October 2017 - 9h00-12h00
Room 5G315
European Parliament - Bât. Altiero Spinelli
60, rue Wiertz - B-1047 - Bruxelles

Community Networks (CNs) are a growing movement of organizations that operate local communication infrastructures, most of which give free or affordable access to the global Internet. There are more than 150 of these organisations across the EU, currently providing broadband connectivity to tens of thousants of EU residents. These networks are operated as a commons: Rather than being driven by for-profit motives, their key focus is on providing access to telecommunications while striving for democratic governance, social inclusion, education, and human rights with respect to digital technologies.

But despite their stunning achievements, policy-makers at the national and European levels have so far mostly neglected their existence and specific regulatory needs. Worse, regulation is often hampering these initiatives, and the draft of the “European Electronic Communications Code” (EECC) risks worsening the situation. This workshop, co-sponsored by MEPs Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (S&D) and Julia Reda (Greens/EFA), will gather CN practicioners, policy-makers and researchers to discuss the way in which EU policy can help European CNs thrive.

Due to space constraints, the event is on-invitation only.

9h00-9h15 : Introductory remarks by Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (MEP, S&D) and Renato Lo Cigno (netCommons)

9h15-10h15 : Assessing the work of Community Networks in light of EU broadband policy

Chair: Mélanie Dulong de Rosnay (CNRS)

  • Rural areas - Leandro Navarro (UPC)
  • Social inclusion - Jurgen Neumann (Freifunk)
  • Education on ICT & innovation - Leonardo Maccari (Ninux)

Discussant: Alexandre Polvora (European Commission, Joint Research Centre)

10h15-11h45: Overcoming regulatory hurdles for the telecom commons

Chair: Félix Tréguer (CNRS)

  • EU broadband policy and CNs - Maria Michalis (University of Westminster)
  • Legal liability - Arthur Messaud (LQDN)
  • Landline networks and the commons - Ramon Roca (Guifi)
  • Amending the EU Code of Telecommunications - Benjamin Bayart (FFDN)

Discussant: José Bové (MEP, Greens/EFA)

11h45-12h00: Closing remarks by Julia Reda (MEP, Greens/EFA) and David Hammerstein (Commons Network)

Participant list

- Loretta Anania (DG Connect, EC)

- Panayotis Antoniadis (NetHood Zurich)

- Benjamin Bayart (FFDN)

- José Bové  (MEP, Greens/EFA)

- Irina Stefania Burada (DG Connect, EC)

- Bruno Carballa (Commons Network)

- Agnès de Cornulier (La Quadrature du Net)

- Mélanie Dulong de Rosnay (CNRS)

- David Hammerstein (Commons Network)

- Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (MEP, S&D)

- Renato Lo Cigno (University of Trento)

- Anne-Catherine Lorrain (Greens Legal Advisor, EP)

- Leonardo Maccari (University of Trento)

- Ivan Meseguer (Institut Telecom Paris Tech)

- Arthur Messaud (La Quadrature du Net)

- Maria Michalis (University of Westminster)

- Leandro Navarro (UPC)

- Juergen Neumann (Freifunk)

- Maarit Palovirta (ISOC)

- Alexandre Polvora (DG JRC, EC)

- Julia Reda (MEP, Greens/EFA)

- Ramon Roca (Guifi.net)

- Arjuna Sathiaseelan (Cambridge University)

- Fabrizio Sestini (DG Connect, EC)

- Leonard Thüer (La Quadrature du Net)

- Félix Tréguer (CNRS)