Report on the implementation of Directive 2014/61/EU on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks

Directive 2014/61/EU (‘the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive’) aims to facilitate and incentivise the roll-out of high-speed electronic communications networks by lowering the costs with a set of harmonised measures. The Directive had to be transposed into Member States’ national laws by 1 January 2016, to become applicable in all Member States from 1 July 2016.

This report was drafted less than 2 years after the national laws transposing the Directive were supposed to become applicable, with significant delays in many Member States. As a result, the evidence used as the basis for assessing the impact of its measures and the progress made towards achieving its objectives was relatively limited. The report nevertheless aims to lay the foundations for establishing a baseline scenario against which an evaluation can be carried out in the future.