Regulation (EU) 2024/1309 on measures to reduce the cost of deploying gigabit electronic communications networks (Gigabit Infrastructure Act)

What it is

to lay down new measures to facilitate the deployment of gigabit electronic communications networks across the Union (Gigabit Infrastructure Act). PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: the digital economy has been changing the internal market profoundly over the last decade. The Union’s vision is a digital economy that delivers sustainable economic and social benefits based on excellent and secure connectivity for everybody and everywhere in Europe. A high-quality digital infrastructure based on very high-capacity networks underpins almost all sectors of a modern and innovative economy. The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the report by Alin MITUȚA (Renew, RO) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures to reduce the cost of deploying gigabit electronic communications networks and repealing Directive 2014/61/EU (Gigabit Infrastructure Act). The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: To bridge the digital coverage gap between rural and urban areas, the report proposed, in limited conditions, to expand the obligation to facilitate access to physical public infrastructures to privately owned commercial buildings. This expansion aims to provide coverage in rural, remote, or scarcely populated areas where no public building or infrastructure can offer a satisfactory alternative. Member States could shorten the deadlines to grant or deny permits necessary for deployment, introduce supplementary permit exemptions , extend provisions on civil works coordination also to privately funded projects, require that more information on physical infrastructure or planned civil works is provided to a single information point in electronic format, expand the provisions on access to existing physical infrastructure to privately owned buildings, as well as introduce further incentives for administrative bodies to speed up permitting procedures , give guidance on methodologies for access price setting, including through the use of cost-oriented principle where appropriate, provided that they do not violate Union law including the provisions of this Regulation. To reduce the administrative burden and ensure shorter timeframes for the permit-granting procedure, where multiple competent authorities are involved in the granting of a number of different permits and rights of way associated to one request, Member States should assign a single coordination body . That body should be tasked to facilitate the coordination between the various competent authorities involved, through different mechanisms, including through joint coordination procedures such as on-site visits . The information on the procedures and general conditions applicable to granting permits for civil works and rights of way should be made available via single information points by each…

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