Ed Vaizey, UK  Conservative Member of Parliament, is  the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

At this dinner, Mr Vaizey will focus on the issues surrounding broadband roll-out and other challenges currently facing the telecoms sector in Europe. The discussion will also address the thorny issue of who should pay for the roll-out of the high speed networks, which are key to supporting the future of the Internet; and the implications this could have for the policy/regulatory environment of the European Union. He has a special perspective on the issues, as he covers both the content industries (including issues such as copyright) as well as the communications sector.

We look forward to an interesting evening with plenty of discussion. Other Communications Ministers have been invited to join this dinner which takes place on the eve of the Telecoms Council.

• Programme - 26th May 2011

  Welcome and Introduction:

  Malcolm Harbour, MEP and EIF Governor

  Key note speaker:

  Ed Vaizey, UK Member of Parliament and Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries

  Response from:

  Detlef Eckert, Director, Policy Coordination and Strategy, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission

  Exchange of views with participants