​In the presence of European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel, the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission launched a joint platform which aims to deploy high-speed broadband coverage across all European regions, including rural and other disadvantaged areas.

CoR members and representatives of the European Commission will meet twice a year to share experiences and discuss various challenges related to broadband deployment on the ground, thus making it a truly bottom-up policy process.

Speaking at the launching event, EA group members Cllr Anthony Buchanan (East Renfrewshire, Scotland) and Cllr Kieran McCarthy (Cork City, Ireland) shared experiences from their local communities and outlined ideas on how the goal of covering the entire Europe with fast broadband could be achieved in the next couple of years.

They stressed the importance of broadband coverage for territorial and social cohesion and sustainability in Europe, while Mr McCarthy particularly noted the new opportunities broadband coverage can create in the development of smart villages, another recent initiative by the European Commission on which the CoR is currently preparing an opinion.

The next meeting of the Broadband Platform will take place in March 2018.