The European Commission announced with a degree of satisfaction on Monday 12 December that it had obtained the support of a sufficient number of member states to allow it to adopt its proposal to avoid permanent roaming. In fact, according to our information, it was supported by only twelve member states at the communications committee (COCOM) on 12 December, with nine abstaining and seven opposing its plans.
“Today’s vote by Member States’ Representatives allows us to formally adopt our proposal on fair use policy and the associated sustainability mechanism in line with our legal obligation to meet the deadline of 15 December”, said Commissioners Günther Oettinger and Andrus Ansip in a press release. “This is an important step towards the end of roaming charges on 15 June 2017”, they added, pleased to see this third draft finally approved.
The document provides new safeguards to ensure that consumers do not take subscriptions in the countries which have the lowest charges (see EUROPE 11685). Where operators have suspicions, there will be a minimum observation period of four months and consumers will have 14 days to provide explanations and justifications before surcharges are applied. These surcharges should be lower than the ceilings being discussed for the wholesale market. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)