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Parliamentary question - E-001868/2016(ASW)Parliamentary question
E-001868/2016(ASW)
European Parliament

    Answer given by Mr Oettinger on behalf of the Commission

    11.5.2016

    Written question

    Regulation (EU) 531/2012[1] as amended by Regulation (EU) 2120/2015[2] provides for the abolition of retail roaming surcharges in the EU from 15 June 2017, subject to fair use policy and a sustainability mechanism. Moreover, the Commission has to carry out a review of the roaming wholesale markets and propose to the co-legislators measures to the extent necessary to enable Roaming-like-at-home (RLAH) by 15 June 2016. The Commission shall also adopt, by 15 December 2016, implementing acts laying down the criteria for the implementation of a fair use policy aiming at preventing abusive or anomalous usage of regulated retail roaming services and the methodology for assessing the sustainability of RLAH upon request of operators.

    With regard to the sustainability mechanism, in specific and exceptional circumstances (for instance in countries with very low domestic prices), derogations can be granted to operators, by the national regulatory authority, intended to avoid that domestic charging models may be rendered unsustainable due to the fact that roaming costs cannot be recover through domestic prices. This should ensure that the domestic price level for citizens of those countries will not be negatively impacted by the introduction of RLAH due to waterbed effects.

    On both the wholesale roaming review and the implementing acts the Commission has recently concluded a public consultation on 18 February, and it is analysing the results as well as additional inputs and studies, in collaboration with the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), in view of the adoption of the final measures in line with the timing foreseen in the regulation.

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