The EU Council agreement on the EU's budget for the period 2014-2020 has sharply reduced the amount of funds dedicated to expanding broadband access. The European Commission had proposed EUR 9.2 billion for the digital economy, as part of the Connecting Europe Facility, and in the final agreement, this was reduced to around EUR 1 billion, to be spent mainly on services such as e-government and telemedicine.
First proposed in late 2011, the Connecting Europe Facility would have included at least EUR 7 billion in debt/equity financing and guarantees for building broadband networks in underserved areas. The remaining amount would take the form of grants to build digital infrastructure supporting the single market.
The CEF was widely supported by the major operator groups in Europe, such as ETNO and the FTTH Council. Neelie Kroes, commissioner for the Digital Agenda, said it was a "missed opportunity", but said she will look for other ways to support financing of new networks, such as through the European Investment Bank.
The budget still requires approval by the European Parliament. The major political groups in parliament have said they are not in complete support of the overall spending cuts in the budget, which could lead to a compromise on restoring some of the funding.
