Brussels, 19/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - During their informal meeting in Hanover on 15 March, EU telecommunications ministers confirmed their commitment, under the German presidency, to conclude an agreement on Community regulation on international mobile phone costs (“roaming”). This does not mean, however, that all obstacles have been overcome.
All the ministers participating in the informal meeting (part of the CeBit conference, see other article) considered adoption of Community regulation urgent and necessary, insofar as “tariffs for roaming far outstripped the costs and therefore penalised European citizens”. The German minister for the economy and technology, Michael Glos, who chaired the meeting, stated, “competition between the providers, however should not be put in danger or put a brake on boosts to innovation”.
Ministers gave unanimous support to improving tariff transparency, considering it as “an important element for consumers in view of resolving the problem”. They agreed that they needed to regulate wholesale and retail prices and indicated in a press release that this was the only way to significantly lower prices for roaming.
They all considered it essential to propose end-users an obligatory price in an effort to protect them. All options, however, remain on the table to help meet the needs of individual consumers and allow providers to come up with innovative prices. Judging by the German presidency's point of view, there was no unanimous agreement on whether options for additional tariffs should be subject to price regulation. Ministers did, however, give their support to a simple regulation that “reduces bureaucratic procedures linked to this question, to a maximum”.
The European commissioner for the information society gave a clear report-back on the informal meeting. She described it as an “advance” and highlighted the points of agreements that they had obtained. Viviane Reding also explained that they needed a solution on the question of roaming because they needed to protect consumers and required a speedy solution to wholesale and retail questions. Like Mr Glos, Reding said that she was, “very confident” that a solution could be found before the summer. Nonetheless, she did qualify her response and explained that the details still had to be negotiated and that none or almost none of the ministers had any figures on the matter. (ol)