Danish non-paper on the revision of the Guidelines on State
aid for broadband networks
Denmark welcomes the opportunity to submit its input regarding the draft revised EC Guidelines on State aid for
broadband networks (hereafter “the Broadband Guidelines”). Denmark welcomes the update of the guidelines,
which overall are more informative and concrete. Denmark welcomes the important step of establishing explicit
rules on subsidies for mobile networks. Addressing the role of electronic communications networks in achieving
sustainability goals is a further welcome point.
The main points of the response of Denmark are:
•
Denmark believes the approach of future proofing the criteria for eligible target areas for fixed
networks, including upload criteria, is the right choice.
Denmark believes the approach of future proofing these criteria is the right choice and that these criteria allow
different Member States to plan interventions that suit their various local market conditions.
•
Denmark is concerned about the level of administrative burdens placed on both the aid granting
authorities and the beneficiaries.
Denmark is very aware of the necessity to limit the distortive effects of any aid granted. At the same time, Denmark
is concerned about the draft Broadband Guidelines’ overall level of requirements to both the aid granting
authorities and the benificiaries in cases where the draft Broadband Guidelines are applied to smaller notified
state aid schemes or to very small local tenders within a notified framework scheme.
Denmark notes that operators’ willingness to accept burdensome
requirements is subject to economies of scale:
The larger the aid amount, the greater the willingness to invest in ensuring compliance with requirements deriving
exclusively from state aid rules. Conversely, such requirements may lead to a lack of interest by bidders. In this
light, a “one size fits all” set of extensive requirements may preclude a Member State such as Denmark from using
state aid in a flexible way as a supplement to market-driven deployment.
Denmark attaches particular importance to flexibility for Member States to assess the proportionality of the range
of wholesale access products required on subsidised network, taking into account the commercial wholesale
access market and national SMP regulation.
Further, the draft Guidelines contain a requirement to report information on each individual aid award exceeding
EUR 100,000. While Denmark welcomes the increased transparency of granted aid that this requirement will
entail, it is noted that the requirement is expected to lead to increased administrative costs for the Member States
and businesses. Potentially, this might make using the Draft Guidelines less attractive.
Finally, Denmark recommends adopting explicit rules on framework schemes, where national or regional
governments notify frameworks for tenders by local authorities, based on the extensive case practice on this type
of scheme. Some rules, such as the rules on public consultations, could reflect the particular considerations
applying for such schemes.