The Council of Ministers "adopted a partial general approach" towards plans that the European Commission laid out in September as part of a wide initiative to deliver better broadband connectivity in the EU.
The 'WiFi4EU' scheme "aims to help provide free Wi-Fi in town halls, public parks and other centres of public life", according to the Council of Ministers. Public sector bodies across the EU will be able to apply for EU funds to help cover all or some of costs of installing the "local wireless access points" necessary to deliver the free Wi-Fi services, it said.
To be eligible for funding, public sector bodies will need to offer Wi-Fi services at speeds of greater than 30 megabits per second and be capable of meeting the operating costs of the service once it has been installed. Only public Wi-Fi initiatives that "do not duplicate existing private or public internet connections" will be eligible for funding, it said.
"Thanks to these free local connections, even those who may otherwise face difficulties in getting online, such as unemployed or elderly people, should have the opportunity to experience the benefits of high-speed broadband. WiFi4EU will promote digital local services such as e-government, and is expected to increase citizens' demand for connectivity and use of online services," the Council of Ministers said.
Funding will be drawn from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility and will be "allocated in a geographically balanced manner across the EU and, in principle, on a first-come, first-served basis", the Council of Ministers said.
The final budget to support the scheme has not yet been fixed, but the Commission said that €120 million of funds to underpin the initiative "has been earmarked for the 2017-2019 period". The Commission said it expects at least 6,000 local communities to benefit from the WiFi4EU programme.
Both the Council of Ministers and European Parliament must vote to support the new EU legislation that has been drafted to introduce the WiFi4EU scheme.