Summary Note: Connectivity Tax/Fair Share

"Adapt or die!"

- Neelie Kroes, European Commission, 2014 in a speech directed to the EU telecommunications industry

"I think there is an issue that we need to consider with a lot of focus, and that is the issue of fair contribution to telecommunication networks"

- Margarethe Vestager, European Commission vice president, May 2022

"The rules in place for twenty years are running out of steam, and operators no longer have the right return on their investments. It is necessary to reorganise the fair remuneration of the networks"

- Thierry Breton, Internal Market commissioner, May 2022 in an interview with Les Echos

Introduction

The EU Commission considers intervening in the commercial relationship between large Content and Application Providers (CAPs) and Internet Access Providers (ISPs) by introducing a sort of compensation payable by certain content providers whose services are the origin of the major part of data traffic on the telecommunication