Reding set for roaming showdown

Viviane Reding, the commissioner for information society and media, is set for a showdown with the Council of Ministers over rules setting caps on tariffs for using mobile phones abroad.

Reding is expecting telecoms ministers to sign off the regulation at a meeting in Luxembourg next week (7 June), a move which would allow consumers to benefit from lower tariffs during their summer holidays.

But the German presidency of the EU, which has already invested considerable effort into speeding the rules through the legislative pipeline, has other ideas on timing. According to a German diplomat, Germany had already made clear in negotiations with the European Parliament two weeks ago (15 May) that formal adoption would take place at a meeting of industry ministers at the end of June.

"We’re not talking about a press release. We’re talking about a regulation that takes legal effect on the day it is published," he said. "They [the Commission] are trying to blame us for delaying the procedure and simply the contrary is true. If this thing had been put in place [according to the] normal legislative procedure, it would only have been adopted in mid-September."

An EU source said that everything was ready for adoption next week and claimed that Germany had come under pressure from the UK, Spain and Slovakia to delay matters. Should the process be stalled, operators will enjoy another summer of profits amounting to a considerable proportion of the €85 billion made per year on roaming charges.

The three countries are alleged on Tuesday (29 June) to have asked for more time because of translation issues. "That’s hogwash," said Maltese Socialist MEP Joseph Muscat. "They should not play around with bureaucratic difficulties because there aren’t any."

Application of the regulation, which would be published in the official journal of the EU the day after adoption, is subject to timeframes which make any delays especially sensitive. Although consumers should be free to choose the new ‘Euro-tariff’ one month after rules enter into force, operators have a further month to switch customers to the regime.

The source claimed that the UK, Spain and Slovakia had "made commitments to operators" to stall the process. Denmark, Ireland and the Nether-lands, on the other hand, fully supported the Commission’s bid to adopt rules next week.

"Reding will say [next week] that there are already texts in the 23 official languages on the table," said the source. "She will ask why isn’t the text going into the official journal."

Viviane Reding, the commissioner for information society and media, is set for a showdown with the Council of Ministers over rules setting caps on tariffs for using mobile phones abroad.