An industry association has attacked the EU’s proposed Digital Networks Act (DNA), claiming it creates legal pathways for “mandatory network fees.”

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe), whose members include the likes of Google, Meta, and Cloudflare, published a two-page explainer that raises alarm over two of the sweeping legislation’s articles, claiming they codify pathways for potential network fees.

An initial version of the DNA spooked large traffic-generating platforms with provisions forcing them to contribute to network infrastructure costs for European providers. Lawmakers' argument was that providers like Netflix and Google were free-riding on networks and that big U.S. tech firms should support capacity building efforts as a result.

Such provisions were believed to have been killed off following initial outcry, instead replaced with a "voluntary conciliation" mechanism for facilitating dispute resolution between network owners and content platforms.

But the CCIA Europe group casts doubt on the revised legislation, claiming the fair share wasn’t dead after all.

The group has taken issue with two articles of the bill’s full text: Article 9.2, which widens compliance and notification requirements for networks; and Articles 191-193, which impose the voluntary conciliation mechanism.

CCIA Europe’s explainer states that Article 9.2 would pull in content delivery networks (CDNs), transit providers and private networks, exposing them to DNA rules around peering obligations and regulator-led dispute resolution, and ultimately imposing paid peering.

The nonprofit’s issue with the voluntary mechanism, meanwhile, is that it’s too wide in scope. They argue that CDNs and private networks should again be excluded, with the scope narrowed to genuine companies that are "single points of failure.”

The group also argues that while the mechanism looks voluntary, the inclusion of a review clause that lets the European Commission could allow it to make it mandatory after 36 months.

“The risks posed by network fees are no longer hypothetical. They are written directly into the legal text currently being negotiated in Brussels,” said Maria Teresa Stecher, CCIA Europe’s senior policy manager. “As Parliament considers amendments, lawmakers must scrutinise the legal backdoors already in the DNA and reject any attempts to make them even stronger. Otherwise, network fees risk becoming embedded in Europe’s telecom rulebook at the expense of net neutrality.”

CCIA Europe wasn’t the only industry group that attacked the Digital Networks Act and its conciliation mechanism.

The GSMA, the telecom industry group and Mobile World Congress organizers, previously bemoaned the bill over a perceived failure to “create a more investment-friendly regulatory environment,” while labeling the voluntary mechanism “unclear.”