Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/592425
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2015 News European Parliament votes to end mobile roaming charges European Parliament also votes in favour of 'two speed' internet in controversial net neutrality regulations vote AFTER two years of negotia- tions, the European Parliament yesterday voted to clear the last legislative hurdle that will see excessive mobile phone roaming prices banned across the EU by June 2017. The decision marks a lengthy effort by the European authori- ties to stop mobile operators charging consumers for making cross continental calls. The move has been criticised in the past by mobile industry in- siders who hold that the impact of the regulation was likely to be limited and relied heavily on the co-operation of operators. But the European Commission heralded the decision calling it a "the final result of intense ef- forts." Speaking after the vote, And- rus Ansip, European Commis- sion vice-president, said "the voice of Europeans has been heard. Today's vote is the final result of intense efforts to put an end to roaming charges in the European Union. As from mid- June 2017, Europeans will pay the same price to use their mo- bile devices when travelling in the EU as they do at home. And they will already pay less as from April 2016." Addressing parliament, Mal- tese MEP Roberta Metsola welcomed the vote, saying that "banning roaming charges is a tangible example of the benefits of a closer economic union. "It means that our citizens will be not be burdened by out-of- date business practices and will see the benefits of a true Europe- an Digital Market. It is time that we realised that digital services cannot stop at our borders," she said. Metsola, who is a member of the European Parliament Com- mittee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, said that prices will be decreasing drasti- cally by April 2016 before being completely removed the follow- ing year. The EPP MEP also called for increased efforts to ensure net neutrality and an open internet, saying that a two-speed internet would undermine the concept of freedom of communication, and operators should not be allowed to slow down traffic for com- mercial reasons. MEPs vote for 'two-speed' internet The European Parliament also voted in favour of controver- sial net neutrality regulations. MEPs voted down four proposed amendments that critics argued would have closed loopholes in the regulations. A last-minute rally by MEPs, academics and technology com- panies had attempted to add amendments to the draft regu- lation, but MEPs voted in favour of passing the unamended ver- sion. Irish MEP for Sinn Féin Matt Carthy said the defeat of the amendments showed that "cor- porate interests come first". Critics of the unamended draft regulations had argued it would allow companies to pay for pref- erential treatment from ISPs and damage the free and open nature of the internet. Julia Reda, MEP for the Pirate Party in Germany, said the vote would allow for the creation of a "two speed" internet in the Eu- ropean Union. Campaigners in favour of stronger net neutrality had proposed four different amend- ments that they say would have increased the strength of the law, which was eventually passed. The rejected amendments in- cluded proposals that would have ensured there was no net- work discrimination, all internet traffic would be treated equally, ISPs would not be allowed to become gatekeepers, and ISPs would have only been allowed to manage traffic when it was con- gested. What is net neutrality? The idea that data should be ferried from place to place as quickly as possible, regardless of what it is, is how most people as- sume the internet works. However, it's possible to decide to prioritise certain types of data over others - perhaps, for exam- ple, by charging the producers of such data a fee to make sure their content gets delivered promptly. For big video streaming sites, the prospect is worrying. They could find themselves cough- ing up lots of money in fees sim- ply to give their users the same experience as before. Some argue, however, that such fees are fair since it costs internet service providers a lot of money to keep providing such content, no matter how popular the streaming sites become. Three countries within the EU - Netherlands, Slovenia and Finland - already have a range of net neutrality rules enshrined in law. These laws might have to be altered depending on how any new, EU-wide rules are inter- preted by regulators later. Elsewhere, net neutrality has received some regulatory pro- tection in the United States af- ter a vote in February this year placed new restrictions on what deals could be sought by internet firms with content providers. But in other countries, such as India, "zero rating" is allowed. Roaming charges are set to end in 2017 De Marco claims deficit decline due to one-off events TIM DIACONO THE deficit decline is due to one- off events, PN deputy leader Mario de Marco warned in a speech de- livered in Parliament yesterday evening. Malta's deficit is expected to fall to 1.6% of the Gross Domes- tic Product by the end of the year, down from 3.7% in 2012. How- ever, de Marco claimed that the decline was due to one-off events that boosted government income – namely the sale of the BWSC power station to Shanghai Electric Power, the payment of Enemalta's arrears, the imposition of an excise tax on fuel, and the sale of citizen- ship. Moreover, he warned that the na- tional debt has increased by €600 million in the past two years. "Although the deficit has de- clined, the absolute figures of debt are still on the rise," he said. He criticised finance minister Edward Scicluna's claim that fuel prices should be kept relatively high as a measure to discourage traffic. "The government will reap in €5 million from taxpayers by waiting until January to reduce fuel prices rather than decreasing them now, and this move alone will make good for half of the latest income tax cuts," he said, while warning that the high prices are harming the competitiveness of local busi- nesses who have to compete with foreign companies reaping the benefits of cheaper fuel. In his speech, De Marco reiterat- ed several of the Opposition's eco- nomic critcisms of the government – job increases in the public sector, plummets in exports, an increase in public wage expenditure, the latter of which the finance minis- try has repeatedly miscalculate in its pre-Budget estimates. "By the end of the year, govern- ment would have miscalculated its expenditure on public wages by €80 million," he said, jibing that 106 passports would have to be sold to make good for such miscal- culations. He dismissed the government's argument that the public sector headcount rise was due to its em- ployment of more people within the education and health sectors, arguing that fewer than half of the 8,000 new public employees between March 2013 and April 2014 were employed in these two sectors and questioning why the government has recently employed 400 new people in the "real estate sector". De Marco also warned that pov- erty figures are constantly on the rise, and that 99,038 people were at risk of poverty as of 2014. "14,000 elderly people were at risk of poverty in 2013, but the fig- ure rose to 16,500 people in 2014, a statistic that should shame the government," he said. He warned that the recent in- crease in the minimum pension isn't enough to elevate pensioners from poverty, and reiterated his call on the government to launch a non-partisan debate on the possi- ble introduction of a second pillar pension. Moreover, he warned that work- ers in the manufacturing and con- struction sectors have recently ex- perienced wage declines. "Between April 2013 and April 2014, workers in the manufactur- ing sector saw their annual wage plummet by an average €600, while workers in the construction sec- tor witnessed an average decline €1,700," he said. "Those two sectors alone employ over 32,000 people, and it's not enough for government to boast about low unemployment figures if in-work poverty is on the rise. Government should look at the people behind the numbers." 'Malta should seek to attract quality lifestyle retirees' – PN MP Opposition MP Kristy Debono called on the government to de- velop a long-term, focused strategy on how to render Malta an attrac- tive location for "quality lifestyle retirees". "Malta can target those people, particularly Nordic ones, who want to retire in a tranquil and se- cure country with a warm weather and attractive services that allow them to maintain a high standard of living," she said in her speech. "This strategy is being developed in other Mediterranean coun- tries, and can prove successful in Malta – perhaps in White Rocks or Gozo." She criticised the government for introducing excise duty on water as a substitution for eco contri- bution taxes, arguing that it con- tradicts other taxes – such as the most recent one on cigarettes - that promote healthy behaviour. "It doesn't even appear as those [environment minister] Leo Brin- cat or operators in the water sec- tor were consulted about this new tax," she said. "Water operators have been left in limbo; they know that they'll have to increase prices, but don't yet know by how much. She also argued that a number of elderly people have been left with scant options where to invest, due to the recently low interest rates attached to government stocks and the 5% tax on dividend income. "I hope that elderly investors aren't being made to compete with the millionaires who apply to purchase a passport, who are now obliged to invest in government stocks."