On Tuesday 12 September, the European Parliament ratified the Wifi4EU initiative to install free wifi in more than 6,000 communities across member states by 2020. It will now be up to the Council to give its final approval, so that the text, based on a compromise between the three institutions on 29 May (see EUROPE 11798), can be adopted.
In practice, Wifi4EU seeks to provide “local wireless access points in the EU, free of charge and without discriminatory conditions, in centres of public life, including outdoor spaces accessible to the general public”. It also guarantees a financial envelope of €120 million for the 2017-19 period in the knowledge that budgetary lines such as the Connecting Europe Mechanism, will be mobilised. These budgetary lines will be published as part of the midterm review of the multiannual financial framework for 2014-20.
The regulation specifies that potential beneficiaries submit their candidacies directly through the dedicated website the Commission will put online at the end of 2017, so that the first projects can be put into practice at the beginning of 2018. The budget available will be allocated in a geographically balanced manner between member states and, in principle, according to the “first come, first served” method.
Projects that duplicate similar private or public offers in the same zone will not be granted financial support. EU funds can also only be used if commercial advertising or the use of personal data for commercial purposes are excluded. It should also be pointed out that in order to be eligible, public bodies should cover operating costs for at least three years and offer free, easy to access and secure connectivity to users. The text of the inter-institutional agreement to amendment 30 is available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/fr/report-details.html?reference=A8-0181-2017 . (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)