The European Commission launched on Tuesday 8 September a public consultation on the existing EU State Aid rules applicable to public support for the deployment of broadband communication networks (https://bit.ly/3m52i0e ). All interested parties can respond to the consultation until 5 January 2021.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of Competition Policy, said: “Europe’s digital transformation depends on high-quality networks, these are crucial for connecting the regions in the European Union, and contribute to a more competitive and sustainable social market economy”.
The 2013 Broadband State Aid Guidelines allow Member States to support the deployment of broadband communication networks under certain conditions (where there is a market failure and where such investment brings a significant improvement to the market).
The guidelines also aim to protect private investment.
In addition, the General Block Exemption Regulation (“GBER”) exempts Member States from the obligation to notify aid favouring the deployment of broadband networks in areas where no such network exists or where such a network is unlikely to be deployed in the near future, provided that certain conditions are met.
In addition to the public consultation, the evaluation will draw on internal analyses carried out by the Commission as well as the conclusions of a study prepared by an external consultant.
The Commission will summarise the results of the undertaking in a staff working paper to be made public. The evaluation will serve as a basis for a future Commission decision on whether or not to update the current rules.
Between 2014 and 2019, Member States have spent 30 billion euros of public funds, in compliance with State Aid rules, to close investment gaps in broadband infrastructure deployment and to meet the objectives of the Digital Agenda. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)