Cost-benefit analysis forum meeting on broadband

About

The fifth DG REGIO/JASPERS cost-benefit analysis forum meeting was held in Brussels on 15 May 2019 and focused on broadband infrastructure.

Target audience

The meeting was targeted to participants from Member States' authorities, representatives of the European Commission and JASPERS partners.

Objectives

As announced during the CBA Guide Launch event on 2^nd July 2015 in Brussels, DG REGIO and JASPERS have decided to establish regular CBA forums under the Networking Platform for exchanging good practices and experiences in carrying out CBAs so as to support the improvement of stakeholders’ knowledge and the effective application of the methodology to specific investment projects.

The CBA Forum meetings are meant to be held at expert/practitioner level, and are targeted to officials from Managing Authorities, Intermediate bodies, Beneficiaries, and other relevant bodies that are directly involved in drafting and providing guidance to project promoters and consultants, as well as in assessing projects and CBA documentation.

The fifth CBA Forum meeting focused on the methodologies presented in the CBA guide for the broadband sector.

The meeting started with an overview provided by DG CNCT on the key aspects of EU policy related to the broadband sector for the current and future programming period, including planned financial sources and updates of exisiting guidance documents. It continued with presentations by DG REGIO on Cohesion Policy support in 2014-2020 and on future policy orientations, and by DG COMP on state aid rules applicable to the sector.

JASPERS provided a detailed presentation of the methodological framework for CBA in broadband projects (chapter 6 of the CBA guide) highlighting lessons learned and challenges from project appraisal. JASPERS also presented in details an updated CBA model for broadband interventions that is currently being tested in a number of projects and that will be made available soon on this website.

Representatives from Greece and the UK presented case studies on concrete project examples and experiences in using CBA methodologies in the broadband sector.

The meeting concluded with a panel discussion which focused on exchange of experiences and a comprehensive Q&A session with the audience.