EU regulation dossier updated for 2026

We’ve added two new Research Notes to our EU regulation spectrum policy dossier and updated all the others for 2026. Both of the new notes focus on 5G.

The first one analyses the EU’s attempts to boost 5G rollout in the 27-member bloc. These include the development of 5G “pioneer bands”, harmonised and made available under the 5G Action Plan. Did this plan do very much to help 5G rollout in Europe? And what is 5G coverage like now? Why is the EU so often said to be “lagging” in the so-called 5G race?

The second examines 5G in the Balkans, where fragmented and often delayed spectrum awards have created a widening deployment gap between EU and non‑EU markets in the region. EU member states neighbouring the Balkans, such as Croatia, for example, are well ahead of non-EU countries such as Albania or Serbia.

The other Research Notes have been updated mainly to take account of the European Commission’s proposal for a Digital Networks Act (DNA), which is likely to become the central EU‑level instrument for spectrum governance, absorbing and replacing the current Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP) and European Electronic Communications CodeThe Electronic Communications Code is a se… (EECC). While the DNA is debated in the European Parliament and at the Council of the EU, the current frameworks remain in place.

Our updated EU dossier is now available to Spectrum Research Service subscribers. 

• 5G in the European Union: Progress and challenges
• 5G in the Balkans: Progress and challenges
• EU policy framework
• Pan-EU spectrum regulation
• EU harmonisation efforts