Memo: Digital Agenda: Commission welcomes Court of Justice ruling on the legal validity of EU Roaming rules

The European Commission has welcomed the European Court of Justice ruling of 8 June 2010 (Case C-58/08) confirming the legal validity of the Roaming Regulation (No 717/2007). The Court confirmed that the Regulation, which sets price caps on the costs of using a mobile phone while in another EU Member State, has a correct legal basis (the Treaty's rules to ensure the correct functioning of the EU's Internal Market), is proportionate essentially to the objective of protecting consumers against high charges and is justified on grounds of subsidiarity (the same objective could not have been reached without a common approach at EU level).

The Court ruling is significant because it confirms the Commission's view that legislation of this type was necessary and that the EU was entitled to impose limits on the prices charged by mobile operators for roaming calls in the interest of the EU's Single Market. The Commission will take account of the Court's ruling in its review of the Roaming Regulation that must be completed by 30 June 2011.

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