19 October, 2012

ETNO welcomes EU Council’s support for Connecting Europe Facility

ETNO has continued to push forward with its efforts to support the European Commission’ s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and welcomes EU Council's support for CEF as announced today.

ETNO has continued to push forward with its efforts to support the European Commission’ s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), as a means to provide for new innovative financing measures that will contribute to the development of high speed broadband networks in the EU, thus contributing to the achievement of the goals of the EU2020 Growth Strategy. Today, ETNO issued a letter to all EU Permanent Representation Ambassadors asking that they seek their Ministers’ support of the CEF initiative in order to boost investment in a sector that is of key importance for the recovery of the EU economy.

This letter coincides with recognition of the importance of the CEF by the European Council in its Council Conclusions published today (http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/133004.pdf) and notes it as being an important instrument to promote growth through investment in transport, energy and ICT links. Digital technologies and infrastructures are flagged as being an essential prerequisite for growth.

Vice President Neelie Kroes has also seen today’s Council announcement as a very positive signal http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/leaders-support-cef/