Brussels, 03/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in trilogue again, the three EU institutions (Commission, Parliament and Council) have still not reached an agreement on international roaming costs. Worse still, given the difficulties encountered, it has been decided to postpone the plenary vote until the end of May. It had initially been scheduled for 9 May. The different parties, however, are still optimistic about reaching an agreement before the summer break this year. A meeting of Coreper is scheduled for Tuesday 8 May with a view to preparing another three-way meeting on 15 May. The ministerial vote will be held on 7 June.
According to diplomatic sources, member state ministers rejected a Parliament offer of compromise on tariff ceilings. The proposal was as follows: - 45 eurocents for outgoing calls, 20 cents for incoming calls and 29 cents for wholesale charges. We recall that the industry, research and energy committee at the European Parliament had voted in April (see EUROPE 9405) for ceilings of 40 and 15 cents respectively. Also, the question of automatic commutation of the new tariffs is still outstanding. (gc)