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The European Union is considering allowing ISPs to enter into agreements with companies or individuals to give them faster Internet speeds without slowing down others' connections

MANILA, Philippines The European Union (EU) is reportedly following a different tack with regard to Net Neutrality: offering fast lanes without slowing down everyone else.

The Financial Times reported Tuesday, March 3, that a proposal had been made that would potentially allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to enter into agreements with companies or individuals to give them faster Internet speeds.

This tiering of the Internet would not slow down other users connections, The Verge added.

Representatives from the 28 EU member states will vote on the measure. If it passes, it will undergo debate by the European Commission and the European Parliament. If an agreement between these two bodies and EU member-states is reached, the proposals will be enacted into law.

A Wall Street Journal report added that EU digital chief Gnther Oettinger said at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona that these rules might be agreed as early as summer this year.

"Access to the Internet and neutrality for our consumers is an important goal," The Wall Street Journal reported Oettinger as saying.

"The question is how to define special services on top, he added.

While telecommunications companies welcomed the proposals, liberal politicians within the EU did not.

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE) said in a statement, "Drafts that are circulating clearly demonstrates that Member States are more interested in defending the interests of their national telecom operators than creating real competition that would provide cheaper rates for citizens and businesses." Rappler.com

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European Union considers tiered Internet services

BRUSSELS: The European Union launched a review of the way it handles neighbouring nations on Wednesday after its policy of offering closer ties to former Soviet republics led it unwittingly into confrontation with Russia.

The EU's executive Commission also began work on a new immigration policy, which will offer expanded opportunities for legal migration as a way of reducing a wave of illegal migrants that has led to thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean sea.

The European Neighbourhood Policy was introduced in 2003 to enable the EU to develop better relations with all the countries that surround it, including former Soviet republics as well as North African and the Middle Eastern states.

However, its offer of a cooperation and free trade agreement to Ukraine in 2013 helped spark a political crisis there that toppled pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich and led indirectly to Russia annexing Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine.

That in turn triggered Western sanctions on Russia and the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.

Some critics accused Brussels of being naive and failing to take account Russian sensitivities over EU expansion.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said self-criticism would be part of the review. But she denied that the EU's overtures to eastern Europe were confrontational.

"It was very clear from the beginning, it is in any case very clear now, that the door of European cooperation is always open, also for Russia," she told a news conference.

An EU discussion document, drawn up by officials to help kindle the internal debate, said the EU should recognise that some countries were keener than others on close cooperation and the bloc should offer a range of alternatives.

In some cases, working with one country will require the European Union to cooperate with "the neighbours of the neighbours," it said - a clear reference to Russia.

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Ukraine crisis prompts EU to shake up stance on neighbours

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Mr Hammond said: We have to seize this opportunity to shake the European Union in a way that works for Britain. It went off the rails somewhere over the last 20 years and weve got to take this opportunity of reform, of renegotiation, to get it back on the rails and then crucially let the British

A strong view has emerged among member states that Britain should remain in the EU, Mr Hammond.

Mr Hammond said: "I've currently visited 23 of our partners in the European Union.

"In a nutshell, there's a very strong view that all of the member states want Britain to remain in the European Union, an understanding that can only happen if there's significant change in the European Union, and a clear willingness to engage with us - particularly on our demands for improved competitiveness in the European Union, something that all member states want to see."

Mr Hammond has previously said that Britain is lighting a fire under the European Union by holding an in-out referendum on membership.

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Philip Hammond: EU has gone 'off the rails'