the digital economy”. The mentioned investment priority was taken into account in specific objective 4.1 of the OP EIC, respectively the Support Programme “High-Speed Internet”.21 In this context it is important to draw attention to the need to fulfil the so-called ex ante conditionality 2.2, which is determined in the EU Regulation No 1303/2013 and which relates to the investment priority in question. This ex ante conditionality reads: “The existence of national or regional NGN Plans which take account of regional actions in order to reach the Union high-speed Internet access targets, focusing on areas where the market fails to provide an open infrastructure at an affordable cost and of a quality in line with the Union competition and State aid rules, and to provide accessible services to vulnerable groups.” The National Plan represents the fulfilment of this ex ante conditionality. The Digital Agenda for Europe also highlighted the need for measures designed to reduce the costs of deploying high-speed connectivity throughout the EU, including the proper planning, coordination and reduction of the administrative burden. The deployment of both wired and wireless high-speed electronic communications networks requires significant investment, a large part of which is represented by costs for construction work. Reducing some of the costly construction work would make the deployment of high-speed connectivity more efficient. The main part of these costs can be attributed to inefficiencies connected with low use of the existing passive infrastructure, barriers connected with the coordination of construction work, cumbersome administrative procedures for the granting of licences, and barriers relating to the construction of networks inside buildings, resulting in significant financial costs. Hence the adoption in 2014 at EU level of Directive 2014/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks22. This Directive is transposed into Czech law through a draft Act on measures to reduce the costs for deploying high-speed electronic communications networks and on amendments to some related Acts. With the dynamic development of electronic communications, it is to be expected that objectives and principles of the State intervention to support the development of next generation access networks will evolve. The National Plan for the Development of Next Generation Networks will be updated on the basis of the most recent evidence, if necessary. 21 22 See the Government Resolution of 9 February 2015 No. 87. See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/CS/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32014L0061&from=GA. 11