Highlights - European Electronic Communications Code: public hearing on 21 March - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

The public hearing, meant to support the work on the legislative opinion on the proposal for a Directive on the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), brought together 8 experts, speaking on two panels. Speakers included national regulators, independent experts, the Commission as well as service providers such as Orange and Facebook. Disability associations (EDF), consumer organisations (BEUC) and an expert from the Estonian Emergency Response Centre also spoke.

The first panel focussed on new approaches to Universal Service Obligation, the proposed focus on affordability measures for basic broadband access as opposed to broader availability objectives, and the suggested approach to financing. The first panel also looked at measures proposed to ensure equivalent access to disabled end-users and the interplay between the EECC and the proposed European Accessibility Act. The second panel focussed on end-user rights in the electronic communication sector, the interplay between horizontal and sector-specific rules, between traditional operators and so-called 'over-the-top- players such as Facebook or Skype. It also looked at measures to improve caller location accuracy in the context of emergency communication services.