Following the hearing with German commissioner-designate Günther Oettinger this evening in Brussels, S&D co-ordinator for the European Parliament’s culture committee, Petra Kammerevert MEP, said:
"We have heard many ideas and great motivation for action. However, whenever the discussions became more detailed, such as in the case of net neutrality, copyright or media diversity in the cultural sphere, we would have wished to hear more specific and reliable statements.
"In addition, Mr Oettinger showed a limited understanding of culture, only looking at culture as a consumer issue, as a location factor and as a contribution to economic growth.
"In this context it is also unfortunate that media diversity has been discussed so little, as it is clear that this goes beyond the Google case."
Dan Nica MEP, S&D co-ordinator for the industry committee, added:
"It is good news that Mr Oettinger has confirmed the need for infrastructure modernisation and increased investment to create a truly European infrastructure. He also committed to fighting for an increased budget for digital infrastructure. However, he must ensure that this commitment does not remain empty words but becomes concrete action.
"We fully support Oettinger’s support for the complete abolition of roaming charges inside the EU and welcome his commitment to continue pushing for the completion of the Telecoms Single Market regulation (TSM)."
Petra Kammerevert and Dan Nica jointly concluded with a call for more action on net neutrality:
"We need stronger guarantees with regard to net neutrality and we need more clarity about Oettinger’s position and planned action. This is a pre-condition for cultural diversity and our Group feels that the proposal on the table is too weak. He must give more clarity about the role of specialised services and the definition of public interest to allow them. Finally, we also need a clear definition of net neutrality to go forward."
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