(13 July 2018) – The European Commission has just announced that the ‘first call’ (meaning first disbursement of vouchers) has been delayed until this fall. The EC cites technical difficulties as the reason for the delay.
The good news is of course that the programme is already in extremely high demand: Within seconds, five thousand municipalities had applied, the Commission says.
All together some 11,000 municipalities applied while the portal was open and functioning. But since the technical glitch disrupted the process, the EC feels that not all municipalities could be treated fairly, and hence the ‘first call’ has been cancelled, the EC says.
The EC’s solution is to add the grant budget (meaning equivalent number of vouchers) for the ‘first call’ to a second round due to take place in fall of 2018, although no specific date has been given. The EC says that the delays will not be substantial because the first vouchers were due to be allocated after summer anyway. (Wi-Fi NOW)