Thematic seminars - State aid in Broadband

Thematic seminars - State aid in Broadband

Date: Tuesday 26 September 2017, 09:00-16:45

Venue: Hotel Crowne Plaza Brussels, Rue Gineste 3, 1210 Brussels (metro Rogier)

Access to adequate broadband services has crucial importance to our economic and social development. To achieve a Digital Single Market, substantial investments are required. While most of this investment must come from private operators, public financing is also necessary. For that reason the European Structural Investment Funds support investments into broadband projects.

Public support for broadband has to comply with State aid rules. The European Commission offers a targeted seminar on how to deal with State aid in broadband projects co-financed from the European Structural and Investment Funds. The seminar is organised in cooperation by the Directorate General Regional and Urban Policy and the Directorate General Regional Competition.

The seminar is dedicated to practitioners involved in management of the European Structural Investment Funds. Participants are expected to have good knowledge of State aid in broadband projects.

For further reading, we recommend two studies provided by the Commission/DG CNECT

• Guide to High-Speed Broadband Investment
• The broadband state aid rules explained

Agenda and presentations

	Session	Speakers
08:30-09:00	Registration and welcome coffee
09:00-09:15	Introduction (15´)	P. Boijmans (DG REGIO) E. Sakkers (DG COMP)
09:15-10:35	State aid rules relevant for broadband (60')	M. Sarrazin (DG COMP)
	Questions and answers (20´)
10:35-11:00	Coffee break
11:00-11:20	State aid rules in broadband - Key issues identified by practitioners (20´)	V. Avgoustidou (DG REGIO)
11:20-11:50	Questions and answers (30´)
11:50-12:10	Current challenges related to application of State aid in  broadband (20´)	M. Segura (expert)
12:10-12:30	Role of Broadband Competence Offices (20´)	J. Dröge (expert)
12:30-13:30	Lunch
13:30-15:30	Workshops (120´, rotation after 60´)	(DG COMP)
	- Workshop I: Mapping, public consultation and public procurement	A. Manaila
	- Workshop II: Wholesale access	P. Pantalissi
	- Workshop III: Claw back, monitoring and reporting	V. Roussel
15:30-16:00	Coffee break
16:00-16:30	Reporting from the workshops (30´)	G. Acchioni (DG CNECT) M. Pino, K. Nagy (DG REGIO)
16:30-16:45	Conclusion and closure (15´)	P. Boijmans (DG REGIO)

Registration

Practical Information

For more information write to Regio-E1-administrative-capacity@ec.europa.eu or Mr Karoly Nagy (+32 2 29 80.334) or Ms Denisa Perrin (+32 2 29 80 061).