A Week of Collaboration and Insights: EuroISPA’s Recent Activities

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Brussels, February 1st-2nd, 2024

EuroISPA’s office has been buzzing with activity over the past week. From internal meetings to engaging discussions with members and industry stakeholders, the association has been actively shaping its strategy and addressing crucial issues in the dynamic landscape of the EU Internet industry.

EuroISPA Industry Forum Meeting

For the first time in 2024, EuroISPA held its Industry Forum meeting, where representatives from our Forum companies gathered to provide advisory insights to the Council Members. The agenda delved into pressing policy matters, focusing on the upcoming legislative cycle and plans leading up to the EU elections. The collaborative atmosphere fostered discussions that will play a pivotal role in shaping the work of the association for 2024.

Executive Board Meeting

In the afternoon, the EuroISPA Executive Board met to set the tone for 2024. Officers and the Secretariat discussed the engagement strategy for the EU elections, outlined focus topics, addressed membership trends, and laid the groundwork for the organisation’s initiatives in the coming months.

Meeting on Piracy of Live Content with European Commission and EUIPO

The following day, EuroISPA hosted a meeting with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission on the topic of piracy of live content. Members and representatives from other industry organisations, with whom EuroISPA regularly collaborates, also participated to the comprehensive discussion. The meeting saw the European Commission presenting the proposed Recommendation on piracy of live content and focused on the published KPIs, the data collection templates and the next steps of the monitoring exercise of the Recommendation. EuroISPA is a leading stakeholder on the matter, and the meeting marked a step forward in the longstanding collaboration with the Commission and the EUIPO, which it actively provides with the technical input from its Members.

ISPA Belgium’s New Year event

To round off the week, EuroISPA Executive Board Officers attended ISPA Belgium‘s New Year event. This provided an excellent opportunity to connect with Belgian figures actively involved in digital policy. The evening included a panel discussion on telecommunications and digital policy in the EU, with a focus on the role of Belgium. The exchange of ideas and insights during this event contributed to consolidate EuroISPA’s relationship with our member ISPA Belgium and to provide a broader understanding of regional challenges and opportunities, especially in light of the ongoing Belgian Presidency of the EU Council.

EuroISPA is committed to collaboration and informed policymaking. As we continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of the EU Internet industry, these engagements serve as a testament to its dedication to fostering a thriving digital ecosystem in Europe.

EuroISPA is committed to collaboration and informed policymaking. As we continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of the EU Internet industry, these engagements serve as a testament to its dedication to fostering a thriving digital ecosystem in Europe.
Meeting on Piracy of Live Content
Meeting on Piracy of Live Content
Meeting on Piracy of Live Content
EuroISPA President Elina Ussa
EuroISPA’s Manifesto for the 2024 European elections
EuroISPA’s Manifesto for the 2024 European elections
EuroISPA’s Manifesto for the 2024 European elections
EuroISPA Executive Board meeting
EuroISPA Executive Board meeting
EuroISPA Executive Board meeting
ISPA BE New Year Event
ISPA BE New Year Event
ISPA BE New Year Event
ISPA BE New Year Event
ISPA BE New Year Event
ISPA BE New Year Event
EuroISPA Industry Forum meeting
EuroISPA Industry Forum meeting
EuroISPA Industry Forum meeting

EuroISPA and other tech trade associations and NGOs jointly call on policymakers for a swift adoption of the ePrivacy derogation extension

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Brussels, 23 January 2024 – EuroISPA, together with CCIA Europe and DOT Europe, coordinated the discussions among a coalition of more than 50 tech trade associations and organisations defending children rights on the proposal laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

All signatories share the same goal, which is to create and maintain a safe online environment for children, to detect and remove child sexual abuse (CSA) content online, and to ensure the investigation of offenders, in a manner that is compatible with privacy and human rights.

EuroISPA is particularly proud to see our members CZ.NIC, FiCom, ISPA Austria and ISPA Belgium as individual signatories of the statement, underlining the great commitment of European Internet Services Providers (ISPs) to eradicating online child sexual abuse.

Together, we have agreed to jointly call for a swift adoption of the ePrivacy derogation extension. Below are the main points of our joint call:

  • In the absence of an agreement on the CSA Regulation and the soon-approaching sunset clause of the temporary ePrivacy Derogation, there is a high risk of a legal gap which would prevent interpersonal communications service providers from carrying out selected detection, reporting and removal work against child sexual abuse online.
  • Proactive work against CSA has proven to be effective over the past decade. We therefore ask the European Parliament to support the Commission and the Council on this initiative and call on co-legislators to swiftly adopt the extension of the temporary ePrivacy derogation.
  • We note however that this extension should only be considered as a transitory solution, as the core focus is to agree on a long-term framework, and promptly adopt the CSA Regulation. 

All signatories remain committed to working towards legislation which stands the test of time and that is in the best interest of children.

Read our joint statement

Signatories: 5Rights Foundation, Agarrados à Net, ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth, Asociația Eliberare, Association Novi Put, Brave Movement, Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Center for Missing and Exploited Children (Centar za nestalu i zlostavljanu decu), COFACE – Families Europe, Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe), CZ.NIC (Czech Internet Association), Defence for Children International Nederland – ECPAT Nederland, Developers Alliance, Digital Poland Association (Związek Cyfrowa Polska), DOT Europe, ECPAT Albania, ECPAT Austria, ECPAT Belgium, ECPAT France, ECPAT International, ECPAT Luxembourg, ECPAT Norway, ECPAT Sweden, Eurochild, EuroISPA (European Internet Services Providers Association), FAPMI-ECPAT Spain (Federación de Asociaciones para la Prevención del Maltrato Infantil), FICE Croatia, FiCom (Finnish Federation for Communications and Teleinformatics), Fundacja Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę (Empowering Children Foundation), GSMA, Hintalovon Child Rights Foundation – ECPAT Hungary, “Hope for Children” – CRC Policy Center, IAC – Instituto de Apoio à Criança, ICMEC – International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children Singapore, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), ISPA Austria (Internet Service Providers Austria), ISPA Belgium, ITI – The Information Technology Industry Council, Marie Collins Foundation, Missing Children Europe, Miúdos Seguros Na Net, Network for Children’s Rights (NCR) (Δίκτυο για τα Δικαιώματα του Παιδιού), Pomoc Deci, Safe Online, Save the Children Europe, Stiftung Digitale Chancen, Stop Sexting, Suojellaan Lapsia, Protect Children ry, Terre des Hommes Netherlands, The Pancyprian Coordinating Committee for the Protection and Welfare of Children, The Smile of the Child, Video Games Europe and WeProtect Global Alliance

EuroISPA General Meeting: 2023 wrap-up and 2024 outlook

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Brussels, November 30th-December 1st, 2023

As 2023 comes to an end and we approach 2024, our members gathered in Brussels for the last General Meeting of the year.

The participants came together to reflect on a successful year for the Association and to assess the results of the hard work. Here is a recap of the Association’s output in 2023:

  • More than 20 meetings held with policymakers, law enforcement bodies, and other sessions: we held multiple meetings and workshops with the European Commission, the Council, the European Parliament, EuroJUST, Europol, EUIPO and many more on the topics of piracy, e-evidence, Data Retention, CSAM, DSA and more.
  • More than 10 policy positions published, among papers, letters, recommendations, consultations and joint industry statements on CSAM, e-evidence, piracy, CRA, AI, Data retention, and more.

The biggest milestone of 2023 has been the publication of the EuroISPA Manifesto for the 2024 European elections, which will continue to be the centre of the Association’s policy work and engagement efforts in 2024.

Read our Manifesto here

EuroISPA’s Committees had the chance to present the work done in 2023 and kick-off the discussions for the 2024 focus areas. In particular, members actively engaged in an exchange of views on the role that EuroISPA can take in the debate on Artificial Intelligence, becoming more and more prominent in the EU digital policy environment.

Together, they agreed that EuroISPA will aim to establish a harmonised and globally accepted framework for AI deployment that encourages innovation, upholds ethical standards, and mitigates potential risks and the regulatory burden for Internet Service Providers while looking out for excessive liability for AI-Generated content and respecting copyright laws.

This will be the starting point for EuroISPA’s work on AI in 2024, in addition to the policy work done on other longstanding topics such as data, cybersecurity, online content moderation, and more.

Participants to the General Meeting also had the pleasure of hearing several guest interventions:

  • Connectivity Unit of DG CNECT on the Future of Connectivity: Results of the consultations and next steps.
  • Cate Nymann, Head of Policy and Membership affairs at the ALDE Party, offering insights and reflections on the party’s plans ahead of the elections.
  • Karolina Mojzesowicz, Deputy Head of the data Protection Unit at DG JUST, on the upcoming GDPR review.

Finally, the EuroISPA Board elections were held during the General Meeting: EuroISPA Council members elected Lars Steffen from eco Association of the Internet Industry as Vice-President, and Romain Bonenfant from FFTélécoms as Board Member. You can read the full announcement here.

EuroISPA’s new Board Officers
The General Meeting of November 30th and December 1st was the ideal setting to wrap up the work done in 2023 and set the tone for the year ahead, between European elections and ever-changing topics and debates in EU digital policy.

EuroISPA elects new Board Officers: new leadership and November General Meeting highlights

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Brussels, 4 December 2023 – EuroISPA, the pan-European association of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) associations, elects new Board Members during the General Meeting held on November 30th and December 1st, 2023, in Brussels.

EuroISPA members gathered in Brussels for their last General Meeting of 2023, which saw the election of new members of the Board. Lars Steffen, Head of International, Digital Infrastructures & Resilience at eco – Association of the Internet Industry, was unanimously elected Vice-President, while Romain Bonenfant, Managing Director at FFTélécoms, was appointed Board Member. They join President Elina Ussa (FiCom) and Treasurer Alex De Joode (AMS-IX) who are already one year into their mandate, in leading the Association’s work until the end of 2024.

Lars Steffen, newly elected Vice-President, stated: “I recognise the crucial role that EuroISPA plays in shaping policy and advocating for the interests of Internet Service Providers across Europe. Several current issues in the European Internet landscape are increasingly being handled at infrastructure level, placing EuroISPA in a favorable position to share the experience and expertise of its members to EU discussions. As Vice-President of EuroISPA, I intend to intensify member engagement and strengthen our links with the wider industry, raising EuroISPA’s voice even higher”.

Romain Bonenfant, newly appointed Board Member, said: “EuroISPA actively contributes to interactions with EU institutions both directly and through its members. I am deeply convinced that the EU level is the right level to influence the digital landscape we all work and live in, and I hope to positively contribute to the important work of EuroISPA with my new role as Board Member”.

The final General Meeting of 2023, which was held the day after EuroISPA’s 25th Anniversary Event, gathered members in person at EuroISPA’s office in Brussels. The two-day programme consisted of committee meetings, Association updates and strategy discussions for the year ahead, in addition to the election of new Board Officers. EuroISPA also welcomed contributions from guest speakers from the European Commission and the ALDE Party, who spoke on the future of connectivity, the upcoming GDPR review, and the run up to the 2024 European elections.

Elina Ussa, who recently took up her role as President, said: “We are delighted to welcome Lars Steffen and Romain Bonenfant to the Board of EuroISPA, especially at such a crucial moment with the European elections coming up. The Board can count on two more expert and dedicated people to lead the Association into 2024, and to contribute to the ambitious goals that we put forward in our Manifesto”.

EuroISPA is committed to fostering the growth of an innovative and fair European Internet ecosystem, encouraging the continued development of a free and open telecommunications market, as highlighted in the recently published Manifesto. The work of the Association in 2024 will focus on collaborating with EU policymakers to achieve a fully functioning internal market, a long-term vision on privacy online, a harmonised European strategy for cybersecurity, and legislative coherence for digital infrastructure.

EuroISPA launches its new Manifesto for an innovative and fair European Internet ecosystem ahead of the 2024 European elections

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We are excited to share EuroISPA’s new Manifesto for the 2024 European elections!

Our Manifesto advocates for putting innovation and fairness in the European Internet ecosystem at the core of the next mandate’s policymaking in the digital sphere.

In this manifesto, the result of the shared knowledge and collaborative effort of our wide and varied membership, we ask EU legislators to commit to the joint implementation of actions towards:

  • A fully functioning internal market
  • A long-term vision on privacy online
  • A harmonised European Strategy for Cybersecurity
  • Legislative Coherence for Digital Infrastructure

By focusing on legislative coherence, data protection, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure, we believe the EU can enhance its competitiveness, safeguard fundamental rights, and unlock the benefits of new technologies.

Read our full manifesto here: EuroISPA Manifesto for the 2024 European elections

READ OUR MANIFESTO
Read the press release

EuroISPA and other European Internet industry associations join forces and publish third joint statement on encyption and detection orders under the proposed CSAM Regulation

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Building on two previous joint statements published in April 2023 and June 2023, EuroISPA and other European Internet industry associations AFNUM, CISPE.cloud, CCIA Europe, CZ.NIC, Developers Alliance, DOTEurope, eco, FiCom, Freedom Internet, i2Coalition, ISPA Austria, and ITI now call on policymakers to ensure the protection of encryption and to limit detection orders in the EU Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse (CSA Regulation).

We firmly stand behind the European Commission’s overarching objective to prevent and combat child sexual abuse, but we believe certain improvements need to be introduced in the proposed CSAM Regulation.

To this end, we call on EU policymakers to:

1) defend the rights to privacy and confidentiality of communications through the specific protection of encryption;

2) make sure that detection orders are a last resort measure;

3) limit detection orders to those with the ability to act.

The undersigned industry associations remain deeply committed to making the digital space safer for everyone and in particular to protecting children online.

Read the full statement: CSAM – Joint call for safeguarding encryption and limiting detection orders

READ THE JOINT INDUSTRY STATEMENT

PRESS RELEASE: Worldstream joins EuroISPA, the world’s largest association of ISPs

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Brussels, 27 June 2023 – EuroISPA, the pan-European association of Internet Services Providers Associations, officially welcomed its new Forum member, Worldstream, a Dutch Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider during the Association’s General Meeting in June. With Worldstream’s addition, EuroISPA’s Industry Forum can now rely on eight companies active in the Internet industry to participate in the Association’s activities under an advisory capacity.

EuroISPA is the representative body of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) across the European continent. Founded in 1997, EuroISPA functions as an ‘umbrella’ association representing ISP associations on policy and legislative issues and facilitates the exchange of best practices between members. The association is structured around different, topical, Committees, which allow members to regularly exchange ideas and views on specific policy matters and dossiers. EuroISPA engages at EU level on behalf of its members on a wide range of policy issues, including intermediary liability, data protection, cybersecurity and safer Internet.

Alex de Joode, President of EuroISPA, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Worldstream as the newest addition to the EuroISPA Industry Forum. Thanks to their longstanding expertise, we are sure Worldstream will provide valuable advice to EuroISPA Council members, actively contributing to our discussions on the policy issues impacting the European Internet industry and supporting us in achieving our goal of representing the interests of European ISPs at EU level”.

Worldstream is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider headquartered in Naaldwijk, close to the Hague and Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Since 2006, Worldstream provides server infrastructure, connectivity, and cloud infrastructure to SMEs, system integrators (SIs), Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. Their services range from customised dedicated servers to private cloud with the inclusion of distributed denial-of-service protection.

Wouter van Zwieten, Chief Legal Operations Officer at Worldstream, stated: “We are extremely glad to join EuroISPA’s Industry Forum. This membership provides us with valuable insights and the opportunity to contribute to discussions by providing input and commenting on proposed regulations, allowing us to explain how certain processes and technologies work, ensuring that the outcomes align with the practical needs of ISPs like us. We believe it is crucial for us to have a strong presence at EU level, and we are looking forward to actively participating in EuroISPA to effectively represent the interests of our industry, as we are firm believers that joint forces make stronger decision-making”.

About Worldstream

Worldstream was founded in 2006 by childhood friends with a shared passion for gaming. Dissatisfied with the high costs and unreliability of game servers, they came up with the idea of offering better solutions. Since then, the Westland-based IT company has grown into an international player of IT infrastructure (IaaS).

Worldstream aims to simplify IT infrastructure and make it accessible to all IT decision makers at technology-driven companies. As a provider of data center, hardware, and network services, Worldstream serves various business markets, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs), System Integrators (SIs), Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), and web hosting companies. The key business objective of Worldstream is to give IT decision makers peace of mind by providing high-quality infrastructure, industry-leading service, and strong partnerships that will get them excited about their IT infrastructure again.

For more information: [email protected]

EuroISPA and other European Internet industry associations join forces and publish second joint statement on the proposed CSAM Regulation’s risk mitigation measures

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Building on their initial joint statement published in April 2023, European industry associations ACT | The App Association, CCIA Europe, Developers Alliance, DOT Europe, eco, EuroISPA, FiCom, and ITI call on policymakers to maintain the flexibility for providers to choose the most appropriate risk mitigation measures and to acknowledge the value of voluntary measures to combat child sexual abuse online in a follow-up paper.

The associations and their members, active in the European Internet industry, agreed on the importance of the European Commission’s proposal to ensure the EU is committed to making the digital space safe for everyone, especially for children.

However, they are now together pointing at a specific part of the text, namely risk mitigation measures, which needs to be improved in order to achieve a legislative framework that helps the detection and prosecution of crimes, and the safeguarding of children.

To do so, the signatories recommend:

  • To broaden the risk mitigation efforts recognized by the proposal to account for voluntary efforts, including prevention work ;
  • To maintain the possibility for providers to take into account relevant differences, including between content types and services, when selecting appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures ;
  • To create an express legal basis for ICS providers to process communications data for the purposes of prevention, detection and reporting with appropriate safeguards ;
  • To expressly authorize broader voluntary efforts to fight CSA for all providers within the scope of the Regulation.

This joint industry statement is the result of a substantial joint effort between the signatories, coordinated by DOT Europe, that shows the unified commitment of several associations with a diverse membership and active in the sector at European level to protect children online.

READ THE JOINT INDUSTRY STATEMENT

EuroISPA Annual Policy Report 2022 – Brussels Outlook 2023

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EuroISPA is delighted to present to you its Annual Policy Report 2022 – Brussels Outlook 2023, which contains an overview of the Association’s main activities of 2022, with dedicated insights on its policy focus areas, as well as a presentation of what’s ahead in 2023.

In 2022, EuroISPA and its committees were busy bringing their work forward on a number of key policy areas for European ISPs, and contributed to shaping the debate around policy files such as the proposed CSAM Regulation, the Digital Services Act, the upcoming Regulation on the online piracy of live events, and more.

But other than EuroISPA’s work in the past work, this report will give a chance to have an outlook on what the EU policy landscape holds in 2023 on a number of relevant areas for the European Internet industry.

Our officers and committee chairs describe the opportunities and the challenges coming up, and the broader vision of the association going forward

Lastly, read the report to dive into EuroISPA’s 25th anniversary celebrations, with a timeline of our dedicated work and expansion during over two decades, and our view for the years to come.

Once again, EuroISPA is happy to have worked alongside our members with the goal of contributing to the development of the sector to ensure its safety and sustainability.

We hope that you enjoy reading our Annual Policy Report 2022 – Brussels Outlook 2023!

Read the full report
Read the summary

EuroISPA and other European Internet industry associations join forces and publish a joint statement on the proposed CSAM Regulation

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European industry associations ACT | The App Association, CCIA Europe, CISPE Cloud, Dot Europe, eco, EuroISPA, FiCom, ISPA Austria and ITI have published a joint industry statement in which they call the European Commission to amend some key points of the proposed Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

The associations and their members, active in the European Internet industry, agreed on the importance of the European Commission’s proposal to ensure the EU is committed to making the digital space safe for everyone, especially for children.

However, they are now together drawing attention to how certain measures contained in the proposed Regulation need to be amended in order to reach the goals the Regulation is set to achieve.

To do so, signatories have formulated recommendations to amend six key aspects of the proposal:

  • The narrowing of the scope and definitions
  • The risk assessment, mitigation and reporting
  • The inclusion of voluntary measures
  • The use of detection, removal and blocking orders
  • The importance of safeguarding encryption
  • The role of the EU Centre

This joint industry statement is the result of a substantial joint effort between the signatories, coordinated by EuroISPA, that shows the unified commitment of several associations with a diverse membership and active in the sector at European level to protect children online.

READ THE JOINT INDUSTRY STATEMENT

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EuroISPA

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+32 2 789 6618

[email protected]

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