European lawmakers have cleared the final hurdle to passage of sweeping changes to European telecommunications law. According to The New York Times, lawmakers reached a compromise that states that any decision to sever Internet access must be subject to a legal review.

Catherine Trautmann, a member of parliament from Strasbourg, France, praised the deal:

It is the first time that we affirm that access to Internet is an essential tool to exercise fundamental rights and freedoms. It is progress for the rights of citizens.

PCWorld.com notes that the telecom package also establishes a new E.U.-wide regulatory body that will have the power to tackle monopoly abuse by former state-owned telecoms.