During his speech on the state of the Union, on Wednesday 14 September, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker explained that the European Commission would be putting forward a new proposal next week for ending roaming costs.
The draft implementing regulation was presented on 5 September. This sought to prevent irregular situations arising such as, for example, consumers purchasing SIM cards in other member states to benefit from lower prices. The text stipulates that an end-user who lives for less than three months (90 days) in another member state should not be made to pay additional charges by their telephone operator, on the condition that they return to the country where they pay a subscription at least once a month (see EUROPE 11616). Juncker, however, demanded this text to be withdrawn, following criticism made by different consumer associations.
"My Commission is political. This implies that it will focus on areas where the European Union has added value and where it can correct technological anomalies. The draft for establishing a level playing field and the end of roaming costs was based on good intentions but did not correspond to the promises made to citizens. When a European citizen moves within the Union, they must feel they are at home wherever they go", Juncker stated. He also said that the Commission would present a new text "next week".
5G EU-wide by 2025
Juncker underlined the Commission's objectives for a single digital market. On the issue of connectivity, he highlighted his wish to introduce 5G throughout Europe by 2025 and to equip each village or town in Europe with free wireless internet around the main centres of public life by 2020. He also slipped in a brief word on the two digital legislative packages: revision of the telecoms framework and copyright (see other articles). He indicated that the former would introduce a "new legal framework for channelling investment in the connectivity area", while the latter went "in the direction of copyright protection". (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)