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United Internet AG

United Internet AG is a leading European internet specialist providing telecommunications and cloud services.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Barbara Banki Gardinal (Head of Unit Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood), Hoa-Binh Adjemian (Head of Unit Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood)

1 Dec 2025 · Sovereign cloud solutions in enlargement countries.

United Internet urges simplification of existing EU digital regulations

21 Oct 2025
Topic — This consultation addresses unfair online practices like dark patterns and addictive digital design.
Message — They request the simplification of existing rules rather than introducing new regulatory layers. The priority should be effective enforcement of current frameworks like GDPR and DSA.12
Why — Reducing regulatory complexity would lower compliance costs and protect their ad-financed service models.34
Impact — Consumers lose clarity as overlapping requirements produce lengthy contracts that are rarely read.56
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United Internet urges EU to simplify consumer protection rules

29 Aug 2025
Topic — The European Commission is establishing a new consumer policy strategy for 2025-2030.
Message — The organization advocates for simplifying existing laws rather than creating new regulations. They propose a central EU strategy to ensure consistent enforcement and reduce legal fragmentation. Additionally, digital formats should become the default for providing mandatory consumer information.123
Why — Streamlining regulations would significantly reduce operational costs and clarify business compliance requirements.4
Impact — Non-EU companies may face market access restrictions for failing to follow European standards.5
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United Internet warns Digital Networks Act risks harming telecom competition

11 Jul 2025
Topic — Consultation on the Digital Networks Act to improve access to secure high-speed connectivity.
Message — The organization demands the preservation of access regulations that prevent dominant players from monopolizing the market. They call for targeted simplification instead of a fundamental paradigm shift that could trigger harmful consolidation. They also insist that spectrum policy remains under national control to support market diversity.123
Why — Preserving access regulation protects their ability to compete against dominant incumbent network operators.45
Impact — European consumers lose out through reduced service diversity and potentially higher internet prices.67
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IONOS Urges EU to Prioritize Sovereign Cloud Infrastructure

3 Jul 2025
Topic — The consultation addresses expanding EU cloud and AI capacity while ensuring digital sovereignty.
Message — IONOS recommends a binding definition of 'Sovereign Cloud' that ensures full jurisdictional independence from non-EU laws. They propose mandatory minimum quotas for certified sovereign services in critical public sectors. Finally, they advocate for 'Digital Infrastructure Acceleration Zones' to fast-track permitting.123
Why — These rules would protect IONOS from US competitors and secure government contracts.4
Impact — Large non-European tech firms would lose access to critical European public contracts.5
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Meeting with Roberto Viola (Director-General Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and

23 Jun 2025 · Roundtable discussion on developing a sovereign Cloud Edge Continuum

Meeting with Svenja Hahn (Member of the European Parliament) and Microsoft Corporation and

14 Feb 2025 · Exchange on upcoming digital EU legislation

United Internet warns high security hurdles hinder Digital Wallet adoption

5 Sept 2024
Topic — Implementing rules for the functionalities and security of European Digital Identity Wallets.
Message — United Internet warns that requiring rigorous authentication upfront for all applications creates an unnecessary hurdle. They suggest authentication should instead be performed at a level appropriate to each specific use case.12
Why — Lower security barriers help the company integrate the wallet into its consumer web services.3
Impact — American tech giants face increased competition from a more user-friendly European identity alternative.4
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Response to Rules specifying the obligations laid down in Articles 21(5) and 23(11) of the NIS 2 Directive

25 Jul 2024

United Internet welcomes the efforts of the European Commission to assist companies affected by the NIS-2 Directive in choosing appropriate security measures and identifying significant incidents. However, we believe that changes to the Commission's draft are necessary in order to ensure a risk-based approach and a high level of legal certainty for companies. Details are outlined in the attached document.
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Response to How to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs?

28 Jun 2024

United Internet welcomes the possibility to comment on the White Paper "How to master Europes digital infrastructure needs." Please find our submission attached.
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Response to Commission Implementing Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2020/1070 on small cells

7 Jun 2024

United Internet welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the consultation launched on 13 May 2024 on amending the European Commissions Implementing Regulation 2020/1070 specifying the physical and technical characteristics of small cells that are exempted from any individual town planning permit or other individual prior permits. We believe that the proposed amendments to the EU Implementing Regulation are overall positive. Please find attached our comments.
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United Internet Urges GDPR Flexibility to Boost AI Innovation

7 Feb 2024
Topic — The European Commission is evaluating the application of data protection rules six years later.
Message — The company requests flexible rules for AI development and pseudonymous data. They suggest adding proportionality requirements to data subject access requests.12
Why — This would lower regulatory costs and accelerate the deployment of AI products.34
Impact — Privacy advocates and citizens would lose the absolute right to access personal data.5
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Response to Review of the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive (Directive 2014/61/EU)

16 May 2023

United Internet | 1&1 welcomes the submission of the draft Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA) and supports the declared and further pursued goals of facilitating the roll-out of VHCN. Please find attached our comments.
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United Internet Urges Stricter Rules to End Big Tech Forum Shopping

23 Mar 2023
Topic — The initiative streamlines cooperation between national data protection authorities to improve cross-border GDPR enforcement.
Message — Harmonize administrative procedures to prevent large firms from choosing favorable jurisdictions for their headquarters. Establish fixed deadlines for draft decisions instead of using vague or unworkable timing standards. Make it easier to obtain expert opinions on issues that affect multiple member states.1234
Why — They would gain a fairer competitive environment by ending regulatory advantages for dominant firms.56
Impact — Large tech companies would lose the ability to exploit lenient regulatory oases within Europe.7
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Response to Key performance indicators for the Digital Decade policy programme 2030

13 Mar 2023

Dear Madam/Sir, 1&1 welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to propose KPIs to monitor the progress of the Digital Decade Program. Please find our submission attached.
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Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and

16 Dec 2020 · Roundtable - Cloud Alliance

Meeting with Werner Stengg (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)

23 Nov 2020 · Digital Identity, Digital Services Act

Meeting with Anthony Whelan (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

9 Sept 2020 · Digital issues

Response to European Digital Identity (EUid)

2 Sept 2020

1&1 welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Commission’s consultation on the revision of the eIDAS Regulation | European Digital Identity (EUid). WEB.DE, GMX and 1&1 have been the first European companies for electronic delivery Services certified by TÜViT and the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) under the eIDAS Regulation. WEB.DE, GMX and 1&1 have managed to successfully implement qualified trust services, taking into account European standards and national legislation. 1&1 is also a founding member of netID. We fully support EU-wide standards introduced by the eIDAS Regulation for unique identification and digital signatures of electronic cross-border data transmissions. The introduction of EU-wide standards for clear identification has contributed significantly to create the basis for Europe-wide, legally valid electronic communications, and secure electronic identification. However, there is also a need for improvement, especially as the potential of electronic identification and authentication under eIDAS remains underexploited. In particular, Measures should be taken with regard to: - Widening the scope: The restriction to the public sector restricts the scope for daily use. A European online ID can only work when encouraging wider use. Since no European country can achieve this scope on its own, a successful European identity system can only be fit for the future if it becomes practical and thus a game-changer through daily use. Interoperability is the prerequisite for a European-wide success. It is therefore particularly important not to commit to unilateral technical solutions in advance (e.g. SAML or blockchain). Therefore, and in order to leverage digital identities across the EU Single Market, we highly recommend the Commission to endorse the OpenID Connect Standard besides SAML. - Mandatory introduction of eIDAS as a Single-Sign-On (SSO): The eIDAS Regulation should set the course and ensure that citizens can participate in the European digital market with a European digital identity rather than having to use non-European IDs as offered e.g. by large US platforms. Therefore the eIDAS Regulation must support the mandatory introduction of a European Single Sign-on (SSO) regime as an alternative to the US platforms. In order to ensure that the European ID system prevails and becomes relevant to the user, it is necessary to expand its daily use by including possible applications for identification and/or authentication at all levels of trust. - Promote harmonisation | mandatory interoperability: To ensure wide reach, existing SSO standards that are already in conformity with eIDAS should be included. The eIDAS regulation should define and complement standards to ensure interoperability in consideration of different levels of security. A co-existence of different (even national) standards (e.g. de-mail vs. e-mail vs. Bea vs. service portals) would reduce the acceptance and use of trust services thus the use of trust services in Europe. Although the regulation correctly identifies cross-border interoperability and recognition of qualified certificates as a prerequisite for cross-border recognition of qualified electronic signatures and specifies the requirements that must be met in terms of data transport or electronic signature, it currently does not specify the access requirements for participants to exchange data between two eIDAS services. For further details, please see the attachment. Yours sincerely, Michael Hattermann
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Response to Report on the Application of the eIDAS Regulation

25 Oct 2019

United Internet unterstützt uneingeschränkt die durch die eIDAS Verordnung eingeführten EU-weiten Standards für die eindeutige Identifizierung aller Teilnehmer und das digitale Signieren von elektronischer, grenzüberschreitender Datenübertragung. Die EU hat damit die Basis für eine europaweite, rechtsgültige elektronische Kommunikation und sichere elektronische Identifizierung geschaffen. Die Einführung von eIDAS als erfolgreiches europäisches Instrument hat dazu beigetragen, Vertrauen und Akzeptanz in rechtssichere Kommunikation innerhalb Europas voranzutreiben und die Verfügbarkeit und Nutzung zu erhöhen. WEB.DE, GMX und 1&1 haben die erfolgreiche Implementierung qualifizierter Vertrauensdienste unter Berücksichtigung der europäischen Standards und der nationalen Gesetzgebung gemeistert, sehen in der Praxis aber auch Nachbesserungsbedarf. Die anstehende Evaluierung sollte daher dazu genutzt werden, Schwächen der bisherigen Verordnung zu identifizieren und zu verbessern mit dem Ziel, die Anwendung und Nachfrage nach sicherer und vertrauenswürdiger Online-Identifizierung und Authentifizierung weiter zu erhöhen.
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Meeting with Maximilian Strotmann (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip)

5 Sept 2018 · eIDAS

Meeting with Christiane Canenbley (Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker)

15 May 2018 · Digital Single Market

Meeting with Carl-Christian Buhr (Cabinet of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel)

25 Sept 2017 · Digital Internal Market Strategy

Meeting with Pauline Rouch (Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker)

1 Jun 2017 · Digital Single Market

Meeting with Günther Oettinger (Commissioner)

22 Nov 2016 · online platforms

Meeting with Kilian Gross (Digital Economy)

11 Oct 2016 · Layer 2 decision

Meeting with Eduard Hulicius (Cabinet of Commissioner Věra Jourová)

16 Jun 2016 · Digital single market

Meeting with Anna Herold (Digital Economy)

15 Jun 2016 · platforms

Meeting with Pauline Rouch (Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker)

11 Jan 2016 · Digital Single Market

Meeting with Kamila Kloc (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip)

11 Jan 2016 · DSM Strategy and telecommunications market in Germany.

Meeting with Günther Oettinger (Commissioner)

29 Apr 2015 · Telecommunication policy