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Broadband for all is the goal of the EU, but “the commissioner-designate didn't speak concretely on the social challenge for a guaranteed development of Internet, respecting fundamental rights and freedom of expression,” French Socialist MEP Catherine Trautmann tells Carolyn Henson. Kroes led the EU competition drive against Microsoft, so power wants her scalp.

    Austrian conservative Paul Rübig led the opposition. If the left also remained unhappy, Barroso needed to find a replacement. So Kroes went back for some private meetings, told people what they wanted to hear, and held the post.

   Kroes took strong action when she saw outrageous behavior but generally is pro-business. At her hearing, she angered even conservatives by her weak endorsement of Viviane Reding's cut of the ridiculous telco roaming charges, believing “it is up to the market to do the job.”

Kroes “I am for net neutrality.”

The consensus at the European Parliament for NN is so strong that Nellie Kroes was very clear. “I am for net neutrality. The Commission must protect it. There are many reasons to remain vigilant with regard to new threats to the net’s neutrality.” Britain's telecom regulator, Ed Richards, in practice takes the opposite opinion. He believes that competition is strong enough to prevent any issues. Matthias Kurth of Germany was also skeptical of the need for NN regulations. ISPs "shouldn't be allowed to limit the access to service or content out of commercial motivation, but only in cases of security issues and spamming", David Meyer quotes at ZDNET