Article 6Eligibility criteria and priorities for funding

1.

Actions contributing to projects of common interest in the field of digital service infrastructures shall meet all the following criteria in order to be eligible for funding:

(a)

have sufficient maturity to be deployed, as proven in particular through successful piloting under programmes such as the Union programmes related to innovation and research;

(b)

contribute to Union policies and activities in support of the internal market;

(c)

create European added value and have a strategy and planning for long-term sustainability, where appropriate through funding sources other than CEF, the quality of which is to be demonstrated by a feasibility and cost-benefit assessment. Such strategy shall be updated when appropriate;

(d)

comply with international and/or European standards or open specifications and orientations for interoperability, such as the European Interoperability Framework, and capitalise on existing solutions.

2.

The selection of actions contributing to projects of common interest in the field of digital service infrastructures to be funded under the CEF, as well as their level of funding, shall be carried out as part of an annual work programme referred to in Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013.

3.

Building blocks essential for, and with demonstrable prospects of being used in, the development, deployment and operation of other digital service infrastructures as listed in Section 1.1 of the Annex, shall be given top priority for funding.

4.

Second priority shall be given to other digital service infrastructures in support of Union law, policies and programmes, as listed in Sections 1.2 and 1.3 of the Annex and, where possible, be based on existing building blocks.

5.

Support to core service platforms shall take priority over generic services.

6.

On the basis of the objectives provided for in Article 3 of this Regulation, the description of projects of common interest in the Annex to this Regulation and, taking into account the available budget, the annual and multiannual work programmes referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 may establish further eligibility and priority criteria in the field of digital service infrastructures.

7.

Actions contributing to projects of common interest in the field of broadband networks shall meet all the following criteria in order to be eligible for funding:

(a)

make a significant contribution to the realisation of the targets of the Digital Agenda for Europe;

(b)

have sufficiently mature project development and preparation stages that are underpinned by effective implementation mechanisms;

(c)

address market failures or sub-optimal investment situations;

(d)

not lead to market distortions or crowding out of private investment;

(e)

use the technology which is deemed most suitable to address the needs of the geographic area in question, taking into account geographic, social and economic factors based on objective criteria and in keeping with technological neutrality;

(f)

deploy the technology best suited for the specific project, while proposing the best balance between state of the art technologies in terms of data flow capacity, transmission security, network resilience, and cost efficiency;

(g)

have a high potential for replicability and/or be based on innovative business models.

8.

The criteria referred to in point (g) of paragraph 7 of this Article shall not be required for projects funded from additional ring-fenced contributions provided in accordance with Article 15(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013.

9.

Horizontal actions shall meet either of the following criteria in order to be eligible for funding:

(a)

prepare or support implementation actions in their deployment, governance and address existing or emerging implementation problems;

(b)

create new demand for digital service infrastructures.