Strasburg, 23/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 23 May, the European Parliament's plenary session adopted the consolidated report of Paul Rübig (EPP-ED) on international roaming costs. This was achieved through an agreement of principle between the Council, Parliament and European Commission. The compromise text, presented in the form of a single amendment, received the broad support of MEPs, who managed to overcome their political differences. European consumers will therefore see their bills fall by almost 70% thanks to a sliding scale of price caps that will soon be in force (EUROPE 9427).
The enthusiastic declarations of MEPs followed one after the other at the parliamentary tribune, despite a few dissenting voices. Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for telecommunications declared: “This is an excellent day for consumers and business men in the European Union…one of the final borders has just fallen, that of overpriced bills that punish citizens travelling freely abroad”. She added that “it is now necessary to reform the telecommunications markets and go from 27 national markets to a single genuine European market. This is the next stage awaiting us”. Warning against a “Pyrrhic victory”, Herbert Reul (EPP-ED, Germany) affirmed that “it is not the role of European policy to set prices…What counts is knowing whether this will be a specific case or a precedent. I am afraid that we have created a precedent and broken a taboo. This is a mistake”. This view was supported by Alexander Alvaro (ALDE) who said that he was afraid that “we could have a bad fall in twenty or so years time”.
Several MEPs were concerned about correct application of the regulation in member states. Customers already benefiting from specific prices for international calls will not automatically be orientated towards Euro-tariff if the latter is more expensive. National regulation authorities will therefore have to decide who will be orientated to Euro-tariff on a case-by-case basis. Joseph Muscat (PES, Malta) said that “it is not the ideal solution”. He is therefore counting on the Commission to monitor and inspect the national authorities, which Ms Reding assured him would be done. Through the regulation adopted, the Commission is committed to producing a report in the next 18 months on the latest price trends in the European Union. The commissioner also intends to carry out a “close follow-up” on the regulation authorities to ensure that there are no repercussions on data exchange prices (SMS and MMS). Several MEPs called on her to take action in this field, but the commissioner wants to wait for the 18 month deadline before, possibly, then regulating these services. Mr Muscat is also counting on the European Consumers Organisation (BEUC), whose director, Jim Murray, declared in a press release: “We are keeping an eye on how operators attempt to dissuade consumers from opting for regulated prices and we will be closely monitoring SMS and MMS prices, and other internet services that are not covered by the regulation”.
Certain questions are still pending, however, with regard to the entry into force of the regulation. Although Ms Reding is delighted with the fact that European citizens will now have new tariffs from the summer holidays, it now appears likely that telephone operators will benefit from a final respite. Operators from the date of the entry into force on 27 June, at the latest, will have a month to produce proposals for their customers. The latter will then have two months to decide on the matter. If they opt for the new offer, another month will be needed for introducing the new tariff. If the customer does not reply, the Euro-tariff will automatically apply after two months. By respecting the deadlines, operators will therefore be able to make substantial profits over the next summer holidays. Béatrice Patrie (PES, France) deplored the fact that “operators had won another season”. This observation prompted a warning from Mr Rübig: “The European Parliament is convinced that swift implementation of the regulation is necessary so that European citizens can benefit from it this summer. In this perspective, we are calling on the Commission and Council to follow Parliament's example, which examined and translated this regulation into all official languages in five days…and do what they can to get the text signed and published in the Official Journal as soon as possible”. The ball is now in the Council's court, which will have to speak on the subject on 7 June. (gc)