Brussels, 08/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 8 June, ministers of the 27 EU member states formally adopted without debate the EU new roaming rules put forward last September by the European Commission and adopted in April by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 9887). This was the final hurdle before the new rules can take effect on 1 July, just in time for the summer holiday period, after official signing of the regulation by the Parliament and Council presidents on 18 June. “Today's unanimous adoption by the Council of Ministers means that the new roaming rules have passed the very last procedural hurdle and will now bring instant benefits to consumers as of 1 July. (…) This is great news for European citizens who will be able to go on holiday this summer and roam with peace of mind and without the fear of bill shocks”, said Viviane Reding, Telecommunications Commissioner.
With the new regulation on roaming, consumers will not have to pay more than €0.11 (excluding VAT) for sending a text message from another European Union country. Consumers may also surf the web, download films or send photos with their mobile phones without having any nasty surprises when they return from their holiday as the regulation provides for a cut-off mechanism to come into effect once the amount to be paid reaches €50. The new rules also provide for the introduction of per-second billing after the first 30 seconds for roamed calls made and from the first second for calls received while abroad, which could lead to phone bill reductions of up to 24%. Henceforth approved by the EU Council of Ministers, these provisions will be applicable from 1 July throughout all 27 member states. Measures are limited in time, however, and are to expire on 30 June 2012. The Commission will re-examine this regulation on 30 June 2011 at the latest in the light of changes in the sector.
In order to speed up the procedure and ensure that the new rules on roaming are in force before the summer holiday period, member state ministers adopted the EU regulation during the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council held on Monday 8 June in Luxembourg. The telecommunications ministers of the 27 EU member states had, prior to this, given their informal political agreement last November (see EUROPE 9792). (I.L./transl.jl)