Roaming - a good regulation is on the way for 1st July 2009

Following the adoption today by the Telecom Council of its position on the Roaming 2 regulation, Adina Valean (Partidul Naþional Liberal, Roumania), European Parliament rapporteur for this file, concludes that there is considerable room for improvement on the proposal to ensure long term benefits to consumers.

Commenting on the Council's position, Ms Valean stated: "I deplore the superficial approach the Council has taken today. This has amounted to a rushed exercise devoid of any meaningful discussion or analysis of such an important issue.

Roaming 2 should not only be about lowering prices in the short-term, but also about working towards achieving a healthy and competitive market framework which ensures long-term benefits for consumers.

That is why Parliament will continue to listen to consumers, industry and national regulators, in order to see whether the proposal can be improved as regards transparency and price levels. One should also look at alternative ways of achieving reasonable roaming prices in the long-term, without any fixing of prices at EU level.

I trust that the Council and Commission will be open to adopt a good regulation in a 1st reading codecision agreement, so that the consumers can enjoy the benefits of lower prices on roaming calls, SMS, MMS and mobile data services as of 1st July 2009."

The European Parliament will organise a mini-hearing on the Roaming 2 Regulation on 2nd December at 9 a.m. with speakers representing national regulators, small and large operators as well as independent experts.