The EU’s net neutrality law is not working to cultivate new European startups and companies

Europe's Privacy And Net Neutrality Policies Kill Startups And Deter Consumers From Shopping Online by Roslyn Layton of AEI. Excerpt:

"The EU’s net neutrality law is not working to cultivate new European startups and companies. This has also been demonstrated by peer-reviewed research conducted in the EU. An analysis of mobile app formation 5 years before national net neutrality rules in the Netherlands and five years after shows that that rate and rank of Dutch made innovation declined once rules were implemented.  This is significant because the Netherlands had the “toughest” EU rules of any country. Meanwhile Denmark, a country with similar socio-economic factors, employed a self-regulatory, multi-stakeholder model and experienced an increase in locally made mobile apps during the period. Moreover, Denmark created a number of “killer apps” that became global category leaders in games, health, and food delivery.


Looking more closely at the two countries, key differences become clear. Denmark encouraged flexible pricing across the ecosystem, allowing all parties to partner to get end users to adopt new services. Netherlands, on the other hand, was very restrictive, prohibiting internet service providers from offering free, discounted, and flexible offers to encourage end users to try new services and apps. Sadly, the EU ignored the success of Denmark, Europe’s reigning digital champion by its own measure, and adopted rules that largely mimic the Dutch approach. The European law restricts innovators by limiting their options for partnership and differentiation. Moreover, it punishes consumers by restricting their freedom of choice, forcing them to value all data the same, a perverse policy choice that makes internet access more expensive for the poorest people."