On Tuesday 7 June, the European Commission adopted a decision to allow the Ukrainian national regulatory authority for electronic communications to participate in the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the BEREC Office.
“I am pleased to welcome the Ukrainian regulator to BEREC. It will allow for closer cooperation on connectivity issues in the current emergency and will lay the groundwork for the alignment of Ukrainian electronic communications rules with the European telecoms framework”, commented Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The decision adopted by the Commission specifies that the Ukrainian body will be able to participate in the day-to-day work of the BEREC Board of Regulators, without voting rights.
The Ukrainian entity will also be able to nominate experts to participate in BEREC working groups in several areas such as roaming, market regulation and global digital regulation.
“BEREC and its members have already established an excellent relationship with our Ukrainian colleagues, as recently demonstrated by our cooperation on roaming charges and joint actions by Ukrainian and European operators to ensure affordable connectivity for Ukrainian refugees”, said BEREC President Annemarie Sipkes.
As a reminder, EU and Ukrainian telecoms operators had already signed a joint declaration earlier this year to ensure free - or low - roaming charges for international calls between the EU and Ukraine (see EUROPE 12929/3). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)