Net Neutrality Regulation in the EU: Competition and Beyond

Extract

I. Introduction

Net neutrality broadly refers to the principle of equal treatment of online content¹ by providers of internet access services (Internet Service Providers, ‘ISPs’). The role of competition and competition law in safeguarding this principle has been at the heart of the net neutrality debate since its nascence. For its opponents, net neutrality is a solution in search of a problem that could have been solved by existing tools, notably the competition law framework, if—and when—the market failed to deliver. For its proponents, net neutrality is about much more than addressing anticompetitive behaviour.

After a turbulent process marked by several changes in their approach to net neutrality, the EU institutions opted for a sector-specific intervention outside the competition law framework. The resulting EU net neutrality rules bear little resemblance to competition rules and the scope to incorporate competition law principles within them is very limited. This was to be expected in light of the objectives that the EU institutions set for themselves, and which went beyond an understanding of net neutrality as only relating to the protection of competition.