Brussels, 11/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - As foreseen (EUROPE 9324), the EU Council of Ministers for Telecommunications, held on Monday morning, came to no decision other than that on adopting a resolution on a strategy for a secure information society in Europe. It was not only the opinion of the EU Presidency but also that of the European Commission that the meeting was, however, one of the most constructive since ministers agreed on the need to submit roaming fees to regulation. “Considerable progress was made and there seemed to be broad agreement on the need to regulate roaming”, said Susanna Huovinen, Finnish Transport and Telecommunications Minister, who also chaired the meeting. She specified that all delegations had agreed price transparency alone was not a solution and that it was therefore necessary to have regulation taking into account the need to ensure operators have all the flexibility they require. The Commission's proposal is a step in the right direction, said Ms Huovinen. However, a dozen or so Member States gave their support to a Franco-British proposal for a sunrise clause likely to lesson the impact of the Commission's text. The clause in question would imply capping retail roaming fees, but only for operators that have not voluntarily cut their rates to below an agreed average within six months of the law coming into force. Like Ms Huovinen, Viviane Reding welcomed the agreement reached on the need to regulate roaming. “It is now a matter of fine-tuning”, said the Commissioner responsible for the Information Society, recalling that the future German EU Council Presidency had already taken a commitment to make progress on this dossier. “There is a good chance of success by the summer”, she added. (ol)