Negotiations underway for EU regulation on 5G and fiber networks

Negotiations are currently taking place for the EU regulation to accelerate the rollout of 5G and fiber networks. The key areas of focus for co-legislators are finding compromises regarding the tacit approval principle and intra-EU communication fees. Put in motion earlier in 2023, the EU’s Gigabit Infrastructure Act, which aims to streamline the deployment of high-capacity networks, is currently in the final stage of the legislative process.

While there is agreement among co-legislators on the objective of achieving the EU’s Digital Decade targets, there are disagreements on how to achieve them. The next trilogue, scheduled for Monday (5 February), is expected to bring about a resolution to these differences.

The main point of contention is the ‘tacit approval’ principle introduced by the European Commission, which allows administrative authorities that fail to respond to a permit request within a designated timeframe to be treated as having granted implicit authorization. However, several EU countries have raised objections to this principle due to concerns about its impact on their administrative processes. On the other hand, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are supportive of retaining the principle to enable fast network rollouts. The current stage of negotiations leans towards the Council’s position, suggesting the reference to the tacit approval principle with carve-outs that allow EU countries to derogate from it.

The role of the European Commission and the evidence provided by BEREC will be pivotal in guiding the decisions made during these negotiations.