Freedom to access and distribute information and content. Freedom to use and provide applications and services without discrimination, networks’ obligation to be neutral...
On 30 August 2016, BEREC published its net neutrality guidelines. A major milestone for the open internet: an issue that has interested BEREC for a long time, having published reports on its various facets since 2010.
These guidelines provide every regulator with all of the tools its needs to implement the Open Internet regulation of November 2015 in a consistent fashion, across all Member States.
At the end of 2025, Arcep celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Open Internet Regulation, which protects net neutrality in the European Union. Its adoption marked a decisive step in the ongoing effort to safeguard an open internet, guaranteeing users’ freedom of choice and capacity to innovate on the web. Thanks to collective efforts, the European Union continues to be at the vanguard of protecting freedoms and innovation on the internet. At the same time, new challenges are emerging, driven by the growing role that digital platforms and artificial intelligence services play in the distribution of online content.
“Generative AI: challenges for the future of the open internet”: Arcep’s report
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, which are a major innovation for our economy and our society, have very rapidly been widely adopted, and are becoming a new gateway to the internet, in the same way as search engines and social media sites.
What impact is this evolution having on users’ capacity to access all internet content, and to share it? And on the freedom to communicate and the visibility of innovations?
Arcep interviewed some fifty experts, carried out technical tests on generative AI services and established six recommendations to combine the development of generative AI and the open internet:
“Are generative AI tools a threat to the future of the internet?”: a four-page comic strip “takes us to 2030, a time when virtually everyone is using generative AI tools. Most queries on the internet now go through generative and agentic AI chatbots. These tools are part of the daily lives of internet users like Louise, who is planning her summer holidays, and Naël, who is developing a travel service…”
“Open Internet turns 10: What’s next?” 14 January 2026 event
What would our digital world look like without net neutrality? What has the open internet given European users over the past ten years? What challenges are taking shape for the coming decade?
Arcep and European MP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin hosted an event at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Speakers:
- Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, European MP
- Laure de La Raudière, Chair of Arcep
Read the keynote
- Tom Wheeler, Former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the USA
Read the keynote (pdf - 150 KB)
Panel discussion, moderated by Michel Van Bellinghen, Vice-Chair of BEREC (2026) and Chairman of IBPT
- Cláudio Teixeira, Head of Digital Policy, BEUC
- Maarit Palovirta, Deputy Director-General, Connect Europe
- Romain Bonenfant, President, EuroISPA
- Cecilia Rikap, Associate Professor in Economics, University College London (UCL)