The European Electronic Communications Code: A critical appraisal with a focus on incentivizing investment in next generation broadband networks

In September 2016, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for a directive establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) – with one key aim being the provision of sufficient incentives for infrastructure investments into high-speed communication networks. Based on a detailed review of the theoretical and empirical literature of the most relevant regulatory measures – that is, co-investment models as well as different types of access regulation – we provide a critical appraisal of the respective provisions in the EECC. We find that, although the EECC can generally be seen as a step into the right direction, the expected effects on investment incentives as well as substantial implementation challenges in combination with a high degree of complexity of the envisaged measures contain substantial potential for improvement.