Would you pay extra for a guaranteed instant e-mail service? What about faster downloads, clearer internet phone calls and uninterrupted web-streamed broadcasts? Or, do you believe such services should be covered by the £20 per month you pay your ISP as a type of "minimum services guarantee"?

Welcome to the net neutrality debate, a squabble that could forever change our leisurely surfing habits. The idea is that with so much junk shovelled onto the internet every day, there should be a clutter-free VIP pipe that ensures faster downloads and clearer voice over IP calls. The concept has its appeals – for those who can afford it. And if America’s phone companies have their way, it could be written into telecoms reforms there to establish essentially two internets – a premium network for the well-off, fabulous and beautiful – and the ordinary net for the rest of us who will presumably have to queue up to access our e-mail and Google. (It’s unclear if the premium pipe would be spam-free, or rather would let in only posh offers like cheap Viagra twinned with a weekend for two in Monte Carlo).

Europe is not convinced that the two-tiered American model works, but that’s hardly the end of the debate here. With the primary battle – pitting the telecoms companies and many Republican politicians against the likes of Google, Yahoo! and Disney – raging on Capitol Hill, the two sides have taken their turf war to Europe. The message is clear: Yahoo! and Google would like the neutral, everyone-is-treated-equally net access regime to remain in place across the globe, while the telcos would like to see their European counterparts lobby for a two-tiered system in their home countries to pay off some of the billions they spend on network maintenance and upgrades.

"There’s been clever lobbying from both sides. I’ve never seen it like this before," a Brussels-based lobbyist for the European telecoms sector told me last week. "Even from this distance, you cannot help but avoid the debate." He says he’s sceptical of the American telcos’ chances of abolishing the EU’s deeply held conviction that net neutrality is sacred.

But if the Americans have a chance of influencing telecoms regulation here, now’s the time: between now and October Europe, like the US, consulting the public on its own telecoms reform. To be sure, it will be a tough sell, but by no means an impossible one.

Since it passed the electronic communications framework in 2002, the European Commission has committed tremendous resources and time to establishing open and competitive broadband markets across Europe. The belief in net neutrality is core to this mission. According to the EU’s current view, universal, reliable and even state-of-the-art broadband access is considered not only an essential business investment, but a ‘public good’ for society too. The way it is described in some corners of Brussels, you might think that universal broadband is as crucial to the wellbeing of a nation as its health service. On June 28, the EU made its strongest statement yet in support of its internet-for-all vision in support of net neutrality.

"A key concern for the near future will be to ensure that the internet remains "open": open from the point of view of service providers wanting to deliver new, innovative services and open from the point of view of consumers wanting to access, create and distribute the services of their choice," the Commission said in a statement.

"In Europe," it continues, "the regulatory framework allows operators to offer different services to different customer groups, but does not allow those who are in a dominant position to discriminate between customers in similar circumstances."

Because the former state monopolies such as British Telecom, Telecom Italia and Deutsche Telekom still control most of the network infrastructure that links their customers with the outside world, they could, in theory, favour their own traffic over a third party’s. This is of particular concern to voice over IP operators such as Skype, who piggyback on the established networks but do not pay for the privilege as an independent fixed-line phone company might. What’s to stop BT from throttling Skype calls in favour of a firm willing to pay the toll? According to the Internet Telephony Services Providers Association, UK voice over IP operators have assurances from the likes of BT that this will not happen. "We would like to see it in writing though," an ITSPA spokesman told me.

In the absence of a written provision, Europe’s pledge to net neutrality is meaningless. Even the EC concedes that it can only require member nations to adopt "minimum quality levels for network transmission services". Thus the only thing holding together this lofty goal of universal and reliable broadband access for all Europeans is a few friendly agreements between companies. For some European telcos looking to recoup costs, American telecoms lobbyists have a better idea.

Bernhard Warner is a former Reuters internet correspondent in Europe and senior editor for The Industry Standard Europe. He writes about technology, the internet and media industries and can be reached at techscribe@gmail.com

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming

Times recommends

• From joystick to helmet: it's all in the mind
• 'Maniacal' engineer takes city computers hostage
• 3G iPhone review: fast but power-hungry