50 Amendments of Cornelia ERNST related to 2021/0045(COD)
Amendment 26 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) As Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 expires on 30 June 2022, the aim of this Regulation is to extend the abolition of roaming charges and recast it while introducing new measures to increase openness, transparency, clear information and consumer protection including on the use of value added services in roaming and ensure a genuine RLAH experience in terms of quality of service and access to emergency services while roaming. The duration of this new Regulation is set for 10 years, until 2032, to provide certainty in the market and minimise regulatory burden while introducing a mechanism for intervening at wholesale level in the interimextended, with review periods of two years, to provide certainty in the market, while ensuring a legislative proposal will accompany the reviews if market developments so require.
Amendment 33 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The widespread use of internet- enabled mobile devices means that data roaming is of great economic significance. This is relevanta decisive criterion for both users and providers of applications and content. In order to stimulate the development of this market, charges for data transport should not impede growth ,or negatively affect customer's Roam-Like-At-Home experience in particular considering that the deployment of new technologies, 5G networks and services is expected to grow steadily .
Amendment 36 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital new(14
Recital new(14
new(14) In order to allow for the development of a more efficient, integrated and competitive market for roaming services, there should be no restrictions preventing undertakings from effectively negotiating wholesale access for the purpose of providing roaming services. Obstacles to access to such wholesale roaming services, due to differences in negotiating power and in the degree of infrastructure ownership of undertakings, should be removed. To that end, wholesale roaming access agreements should respect the principle of technology neutrality and ensure all operators an equal and fair opportunity to accessing all networks and technologies available and be negotiated in good faith allowing the roaming provider to offer retail roaming services equivalent to the services offered domestically. Without prejudice to operator's freedom to choose with whom to negotiate wholesale roaming agreements with, these should not jeopardise a genuine Roam- Like-At-Home experience and should guarantee the same quality of service as provided by the domestic provider except in case of technical unfeasibility. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and resellers of mobile communication services without their own network infrastructure typically provide roaming services based on commercial wholesale roaming agreements with their host mobile network operators in the same Member State. Commercial negotiations, however, may not leave enough margin to MVNOs and resellers for stimulating competition through lower prices. The removal of those obstacles and balancing the negotiation power between MVNOs/resellers and mobile network operators by an access obligation and wholesale caps should facilitate the development of alternative, innovative and Union-wide roaming services and offers for customers. Directive (EU) 2018/1972 does not provide for a solution to this problem via the imposition of obligations on operators with significant market powers.
Amendment 39 #
new(14) In order to allow for the development of a more efficient, integrated and competitive market for roaming services, there should be no restrictions preventing undertakings from effectively negotiating wholesale access for the purpose of providing roaming services. Obstacles to access to such wholesale roaming services, due to differences in negotiating power and in the degree of infrastructure ownership of undertakings, should be removed. To that end, wholesale roaming access agreements should respect the principle of technology neutrality and ensure all operators an equal, transparent and fair opportunity to accessing all networks and technologies available and be negotiated in good faith allowing the roaming provider to offer retail roaming services equivalent to the services offered domestically and should guarantee the same quality of services and a genuine Roam-Like-At-Home experience. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and resellers of mobile communication services without their own network infrastructure typically provide roaming services based on commercial wholesale roaming agreements with their host mobile network operators in the same Member State. Commercial negotiations, however, may not leave enough margin to MVNOs and resellers for stimulating competition through lower prices. The removal of those obstacles and balancing the negotiation power between MVNOs/resellers and mobile network operators by an access obligation and wholesale caps should facilitate the development of alternative, innovative and Union-wide roaming services and offers for customers. Directive (EU) 2018/1972 does not provide for a solution to this problem via the imposition of obligations on operators with significant market powers.
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) As Party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), provisions of the Convention are integral part of the Union legal order and binding upon the Union and its Member States. The UN CRPD requires its Parties to take appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access, on an equal basis with others, to information and communications technologies and systems. To that end, Directive (EU) 2018/1972 aims to “ensure the provision throughout the Union of good quality, affordable, publicly available services through effective competition and choice, to deal with circumstances in which the needs of end-users, including those with disabilities in order to access the services on an equal basis with others, are not satisfactorily met by the market and to lay down the necessary end-user rights.”(Article 1.2 (b)). In accordance with Article 109 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, all end-users should have access to emergency services, free of charge, through emergency communications to the most appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP). Member States are also required to ensure that access for end-users with disabilities to emergency services is available through emergency communications and is equivalent to that enjoyed by other end- users. Importantly, the Code notes that “emergency communications are a means of communication that includes not only voice communications services, but also SMS, messaging, video or other types of communications, for example real time text, total conversation and relay services.” (recital 285, Directive (EU) 2018/1972). It is for the Member States to determine the type of emergency communications that are technically feasible to ensure roaming customers access to emergency services. In order to ensure that roaming customers have access to emergency communications under the conditions laid down in Article 109 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, visited network operators should inform the roaming provider through the wholesale roaming agreement about what type of emergency communications are mandated under national measures in the visited Member State. In addition, wholesale roaming agreements should include information on the technical parameters for ensuring access to emergency services, including for roaming customers with disabilities, as well as for ensuring the transmission of caller location information to the most appropriate PSAP without delay after the emergency communication is set up in the visited Member State. Such information should allow the roaming provider to identify and provide the emergency communication and the transmission of caller location free of charge and without having to use any means of payment.
Amendment 49 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) Certain conditions may be included in the reference offers in order to allow mobile network operators to prevent permanent roaming or anomalous or abusive use of wholesale roaming access . In particular, where the visited network operator has reasonable grounds for considering that permanent roaming by a significant share of the roaming provider’s customers or anomalous or abusive use of wholesale roaming access is taking place, it should be able to require the roaming provider to provide, in an aggregated manner and in full compliance with Union and national data protection requirements, information allowing the determination of whether a significant share of the roaming provider’s customers is in a situation of permanent roaming or whether there is anomalous or abusive use of wholesale roaming access, such as information on the share of customers with insignificant domestic consumption compared to the roaming consumption. In the event of any doubt over the interpretation of the provisions of this Regulation or any contradiction or conflict relating to personal data protection, the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation shall take precedence. Moreover, termination of wholesale roaming agreements with a view to preventing permanent roaming or anomalous or abusive use of wholesale roaming access should be effected only where less stringent measures have failed to address the situation. Such termination should be subject to prior authorisation by the national regulatory authority of the visited network operator, taking the utmost account of the opinion of BEREC where it has been consulted. Less stringent measures could consist of setting higher wholesale charges not exceeding the maximum wholesale charges provided for in this Regulation for volumes exceeding an aggregated volume specified in the agreement. Such higher wholesale charges should be set in advance, or from the moment when the visited network operator has established and informed the home network operator that, based on objective criteria, permanent roaming by a significant share of the roaming provider’s customers or anomalous or abusive use of wholesale roaming access is taking place. Less stringent measures could also consist of a commitment by the home network operator to adopt or revise the fair use policies applicable to its customers in accordance with the detailed rules adopted pursuant to Article 8 of this Regulation , or the possibility for the visited network operator to request that the wholesale roaming agreement be revised. In the interests of transparency, the national regulatory authority should make information concerning requests for authorisation to terminate wholesale roaming agreements available to the public, subject to business confidentiality.
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission in respect of setting out detailed rules on the temporary and exceptional application of the fair use policy and on the methodology for assessing the sustainability of the provision of retail roaming services at domestic prices , as well as on the application to be submitted by a roaming provider for the purposes of that assessment. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council66 . _________________ 66 Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).
Amendment 54 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) Until the adoption of those implementing measures, which should have the objective to limit the application of fair use policies in the Union leading to a progressive phase-out of their application, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/228667 should continue to apply. _________________ 67 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2286 of 15 December 2016 laying down detailed rules on the application of fair use policy and on the methodology for assessing the sustainability of the abolition of retail roaming surcharges and on the application to be submitted by a roaming provider for the purposes of that assessment (OJ L 344, 17.12.2016, p. 46).
Amendment 55 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) The abolition of retail roaming surcharges in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 was necessary to establish and ease the functioning of a digital single market across the Union as well as to reduce costs to consumers. However, that Regulation alone was not sufficient to ensure the proper functioning of the roaming market particularly in respect of seasonality and costs. This Regulation should contribute to pricing models in domestic markets not being affected by the abolition of retail roaming surcharges.
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Roaming customers should, to the greatest extent possible, be able to use the retail services that they subscribe to and benefit from the same level of quality of service as at home, when roaming in the Union. To that end, roaming providers should take the necessary measures to ensure that regulated retail roaming services are provided under the same conditions as if such services were consumed domestically. In particular, the same quality of service should be offerguaranteed to customers when roaming, if technically feasible. Commercial considerations or agreements cannot constitute valid limitations to ensuring the same quality of services as at home. To provide legal certainty and ensure the Regulation is interpreted in the best interest of consumers, BEREC should update its retail and wholesale guidelines regarding quality of service and other new elements of the Regulation.
Amendment 64 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital new(29
Recital new(29
new(29) Roaming providers should be able to apply a ‘fair use policy’ to the consumption of regulated retail roaming services provided at the applicable domestic retail price. The ‘fair use policy’ is intended to prevent abusive or anomalous in very limited circumstances. The ‘fair use policy’ should prevent fraudulent usage of regulated retail roaming services by roaming customers, such as the use of such services by roaming customers in a Member State other than that of their domestic provider for purposes other than periodic travel. Roaming providers should, in cases of force majeure caused by circumstances such as pandemics or natural catastrophes which involuntarily extend the period of temporary stay of the roaming customer in another Member State, consider extending the applicable fair use allowance for an appropriate period, upon a justified request by the roaming customer so consumers can enjoy a genuine roam-like-at-home experience. The COVID 19 crisis led to an extensive use of teleworking and streaming of universities courses and notes that many places in the European Union are not well served by local loop broadband, and the speed is insufficient. This shall be significantly strengthened, so citizens can enjoy a genuine Roam- Like-At-Home experience. Any fair use policy should enable the roaming provider’s customers to consume volumes of regulated retail roaming services at the applicable domestic retail price that are consistent with their respective tariff plans.
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34
Recital 34
(34) Where providers of Union-wide regulated roaming services make changes to their retail roaming tariffs and to accompanying roaming usage policies in order to comply with the requirements of this Regulation, such changes should not trigger for mobile customers anywill not affect or limit any consumer rights under national laws transposing Directive (EU) 2018/1972, namely, the right to withdraw from their contracts.
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36
Recital 36
(36) Roaming customers and home operators sometimes unwittingly incur large bills as a result of the lack of transparency on the numbers used for value added services across the Union and on the wholesale prices charged for value added services. Communications to certain numbers which are used for providing value added services, for example, premium-rate numbers, freephone numbers or shared cost numbers, are subject to particular pricing conditions at the national level. This Regulation should not apply to the part of the tariff that is charged for the provision of value added services but only to the tariffs for the connection to such services. Neverthelss, the RLAH principle might create an expectation for end-users that communications to such numbers while roaming should not incur any increased cost in comparison to the domestic situation. However, this is not always the case when roaming. End-users are confronted with increased costs, even when they call numbers that are free when called domestically. This could erode customers’ confidence in using their phones when roaming and could result in bill shocks, thus having a negative impact on a genuine RLAH experience. This is mainly caused, at retail level by the insufficient level of regulation and the lack of transparency on the higher charges which can be incurred because of communications to value added services numbers. Therefore measures should be introduced to protect customers and increase the transparency on the conditions for communications to value added services numbers and to ensure that customers that are roaming within the Union pay the same amount as domestic customers for value added services and ensure that costumers keep paying the same price as at home when resorting to value added services from their home country when travelling within the Union as long as they are accessible in the visiting country. To that end, roaming customers should be informed in their contract and notified and warned, upfront, in a timely, transparent, trustely and user- friendly manner and free of charge, thatif and when communications to value added services numbers in roaming can entail additional charges and the applicable cut- off limit which consumers can opt-out from. Additional charges should always be communicated to the client. Additionally the value added services and any charge should be immediately interrupted, followed by an alert, if suspicious of fraudulent calls.
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 43
Recital 43
(43) In order to improve the transparency of retail prices for roaming services and to help roaming customers make decisions on the use of their mobile devices while abroad, providers of mobile communication services should supply their roaming customers with information free of charge on the roaming charges applicable to them when using roaming services in a visited Member State. Since certain customer groups might be well informed about roaming charges, rThe home operator should also inform roaming customers of any additional charges that may apply for resorting to some value-added services and the applicable cut-off limit to prevent bill- shocks. Such information should be provided as soon as the consumer enters another Member State and also when the roaming customer tries to use a value- added service. Providers of mobile communication services should also inform consumers of the use of non terrestrial networks on aircrafts and vessels and the cut-off limit that applies to protect them from bill-shocks. Such information should be provided as soon as the mobile device accesses such non- terrestrial networks. Roaming providers should provide a possibility to easily opt- out from this automatic message service without unduly subverting or impairing consumer's autonomy, decision-making, or choice. In addition, roaming customers should be provided free of charge with a text message including a link to a web page giving detailed information about the types of services (calls and SMS) that may be subject to increased costs. Moreover, providers should actively give their customers, provided that the latter are located in the Union, on request and free of charge, additional information on the per- minute, per-SMS or per-megabyte data charges (including VAT) for the making or receiving of voice calls and also for the sending and receiving of SMS, MMS and other data communication services in the visited Member State.
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
Recital 44
(44) This Regulation should in relation to regulated retail roaming services lay down specific transparency requirements aligned with the specific tariff and volume conditions applicable following the abolition of the retail roaming surcharges . In particular, provision should be made for roaming customers to be notified, in a timely and user-friendly manner and free of charge, of the applicable fair use policy, when and before the applicable fair use volume of regulated voice, SMS or data roaming services is fully consumed, of any surcharge, and of accumulated consumption of regulated data roaming services and for using non-terrestrial networks in aircrafts and vessels such as boats or ferries.
Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 45
Recital 45
(45) Customers living in border regions should not receive unnecessarily high bills due to inadvertent roaming. Roaming providers should therefore take reasonable steps to protect customersensure customers are effectively protected against incurring roaming charges while they are located in their Member State. This should include adequate, timely and clear information measures in order to effectively protect and empower customers to actively prevent such instances of inadvertent roaming, including cut-off limits. National regulatory authorities should be alert to situations in which customers face problems with paying roaming charges while they are still located in their Member State and should take appropriate steps to mitigate the problem.
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 59
Recital 59
(59) It is necessary to monitor and to review regularly the functioning of wholesale roaming markets and their interrelationship with the retail roaming markets, taking into account competitive and technological developments and traffic flows. The Commission should submit twobiennial reports to the European Parliament and to the Council. In its biennial reports, the Commission should, in particular, assess whether RLAH has any impact on the evolution of tariff plans available on the retail markets. That should include, on the one hand, an assessment of any emergence of tariff plans that include only domestic services and that exclude retail roaming services altogether, thus undermining the very objective of RLAH and, on the other, an assessment of any reduction in the availability of flat-rate tariff plans, which could also represent a loss for consumers and undermine the objectives of the digital single market. The Commission’s biennial reports should, in particular, analyse the extent to which exceptional retail roaming surcharges have been authorised by national regulatory authorities, the ability of home network operators to sustain their domestic charging models and the ability of visited network operators to recover the efficiently incurred costs of providing regulated wholesale roaming services. In addition, the Commission’s reports should assess how, at retail and wholesale level, access to the different network technologies and generations is effectively ensured; the level of usage of trading platforms and similar instruments to trade traffic at wholesale level; the evolution of the machine-to- machine roaming; the persisting problems at retail level in relation to value added services and the application of the measures on emergency communications . In order to enable such reporting with a view to assessing how the roaming markets adapt to RLAH rules, sufficient data should be gathered on the functioning of those markets after the implementation of those rules.
Amendment 98 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 63
Recital 63
(63) Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to provide for a common approach for ensuring that users of public mobile communications networks and users of non-terrestrial networks in aircraft and vessels, when travelling within the Union, do not pay excessive prices for Union-wide roaming services in comparison with competitive national prices, while increasing customer protection, transparency and ensuring sustainability of the provision of retail roaming services at domestic prices as well as a genuine RLAH experience in terms of quality of service and access to emergency services while roaming, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 65 a (new)
Recital 65 a (new)
(65 a) (new recital) Price differences continue to prevail, both for fixed and mobile communications, between domestic voice and SMS communications and those terminating in another Member State. This continues to affect more vulnerable customer groups and to pose barriers to seamless communication within the EU. Any significant retail price differences between electronic communications services terminating in the same Member State and those terminating in another Member State should therefore be justified by reference to objective criteria.
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. This Regulation provides for a common approach for ensuring that users of public mobile communications networks, when travelling within the Union, do not pay excessive prices for Union-wide roaming services in comparison with competitive national prices, when making calls and receiving calls, when sending and receiving SMS messages and when using packet switched data communication services, thereby contributing to the smooth functioning of the internal market while achieving a high level of consumer protection, fostering competition, needs to be fully compliant with European Charter of Fundamental Rights, consumer rights while achieving a high level of consumer protection, data protection, privacy and trust fostering independence and transparency in the market and offering both incentives for innovation and consumer choice and the integration of people with disabilities.
Amendment 106 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) ‘visited network’ means a terrestrial public mobile communications network situated in a Member State other than that of the roaming customer’s domestic provider that permits a roaming customer to make or receive calls, to send or receive SMS messages or to use packet switched data communications, by means of arrangements with the home network operator;
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1
1. Mobile network operators shall meet all reasonable requests for wholesale roaming access , in particular allowing the roaming provider to replicate the retail mobile services offered domestically, whenunless it is technically unfeasible .
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 5
Article 3 – paragraph 5
5. Mobile network operators shall publish a reference offer, taking into account the BEREC guidelines referred to in paragraph 8, and make it available to an undertaking requesting wholesale roaming access. Mobile network operators shall provide the undertaking requesting access with a draft contract, complying with this Article, for such access at the latest one month after the initial receipt of the request by the mobile network operator. The wholesale roaming access shall be granted within a reasonable period of time not exceeding three months from the conclusion of the contract. Mobile network operators receiving a wholesale roaming access request and undertakings requesting access shall negotiate in good faith and transparency.
Amendment 120 #
That reference offer may include conditions to prevent permanent roaming or anomalous or abusivefraudulent use of wholesale roaming access for purposes other than the provision of regulated roaming services to roaming providers’ customers while the latter are periodically travelling within the Union. Where specified in a reference offer, such conditions shall include the specific measures that the visited network operator may take to prevent permanent roaming or anomalous or abusive use of wholesale roaming access as well as the objective criteria on the basis of which such measures may be taken. Such criteria may refer to aggregate roaming traffic information. They shall not refer to specific information relating to individual traffic of the roaming provider’s customers.
Amendment 121 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 4
Article 3 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 4
The visited network operator may terminate the wholesale roaming agreement unilaterally on grounds of permanent roaming or anomalous or abusivefraudulent use of wholesale roaming access only upon prior authorisation of the visited network operator’s national regulatory authority.
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 10
Article 3 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 10
If necessary, national regulatory authorities shall impose changes to reference offers, including as regards the specific measures that the visited network operator may take to prevent permanent roaming or anomalous or abusivefraudulent use of wholesale roaming access, and the objective criteria on the basis of which the visited network operator may take such measures, to give effect to obligations laid down in this Article.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Article 5 – paragraph 2
2. Roaming providers shall ensure, whenunless it is technically unfeasible, that regulated retail roaming services are provided under the same conditions as if such services were consumed domestically, in particularcluding in terms of quality of service. Commercial considerations that seek to limit this principle shall not be permitted.
Amendment 132 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Within six months after the adoption of this Regulation, and in order to contribute to the consistent application of this and related provisions, BEREC shall, after consulting stakeholders and in close cooperation with the Commission, update its roaming guidelines regarding the implementation of the quality of service, transparency and other relevant requirements to protect roaming customers under this Regulation.
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 a (new)
Article 5 a (new)
Amendment 138 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Roaming providers may apply in accordance with this Article and the implementing acts referred to in Article 8 a ‘fair use policy’ to the consumption of regulated retail roaming services provided at the applicable domestic retail price level, in order to prevent abusive or anomalous usage of regulated retail roaming services by roaming customers, such as the use of such services by roaming customers in a Member State other than that of their domestic provider for purposes other than periodic travel.
Amendment 139 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Roaming providers may apply in accordance with this Article and the implementing acts referred to in Article 8 a ‘fair use policy’ to the consumption of regulated retail roaming services provided at the applicable domestic retail price level, in order to prevent abusive or anomalousfraudulent usage of regulated retail roaming services by permanent. roaming customers, such as the use of such services by roaming customers in a Member State other than that of their domestic provider for purposes other than periodic travel.
Amendment 147 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
1. In order to ensure consistent application of Articles 6 and 7, the Commission shall, after having consulted BEREC, adopt and periodically review in the light of market developments implementing acts laying down detailed rules on the application of fair use policy and on the methodology for assessing the sustainability of the provision of retail roaming services at domestic prices and on the application to be submitted by a roaming provider for the purposes of that assessment. Those implementing acts shall be adopted with the objective to limit the application of fair use policies in the Union leading to a progressive phase-out of their application. These implementing acts shall be in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 4(2).
Amendment 153 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 4
Article 8 – paragraph 4
4. The national regulatory authority shall strictly monitor and supervise the application of the fair use policy and the measures on the sustainability of the provision of retail roaming services at domestic prices , taking utmost account of relevant objective factors specific to the Member State concerned and of relevant objective variations between roaming providers. Without prejudice to the procedure set out in Article 7(3), the national regulatory authority shall in a timely and transparent manner enforce the requirements of Articles 6 and 7 and the implementing acts provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article. The national regulatory authority may at any time require the roaming provider to amend or discontinue the surcharge if it does not comply with Article 6 or 7. The national regulatory authority shall inform the Commission annually concerning the application of Articles 6 and 7, and of this Article.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 5
Article 8 – paragraph 5
5. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2286 shall continue to apply until the entry into force of a new implementing act adopted pursuant to paragraph 1, which shall have the objective of limiting the application of fair use policies in the Union leading to a progressive phase-out of their application.
Amendment 174 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Without prejudice to Articles 10, 11 and 12, the visited network operator shall not levy on the roaming provider any charge related to the emergency communications initiated by the roaming customer and the transmission of caller location information. Visited network operator shall also not levy on roaming provider any charge related other non-emergency crucial communications initiated by roaming customer.
Amendment 188 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 6
Article 15 – paragraph 6
6. Roaming providers shall take reasonable steps tothe necessary measures to effectively protect their customers from paying roaming charges for inadvertently accessed roaming services while situated in their home Member State. This shall include informing customers on how to effectively avoid inadvertent roaming in border regions.
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 7 – introductory part
Article 15 – paragraph 7 – introductory part
7. This Article, with the exception of paragraph 6, the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 and paragraph 3, and subject to the second and third subparagraphs of this paragraph, shall also apply to data roaming services used by roaming customers travelling outside the Union and provided by a roaming provider and to data roaming services used by roaming customers when using non-terrestrial networks in vessels and aircrafts.
Amendment 194 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Roaming providers shall ensure that their roaming customers are kept adequately informed on the means of access to emergency services in the visited Member State and shall ensure that the access including for persons with disabilities to emergency services is equivalent to that enjoyed by other users.
Amendment 203 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17 a Exceptional application of retail charges for value-added services 1. Roaming customers that are roaming within the Union shall in principle pay the same amount as local customers for value added services and ensure that customers keep paying the same price as at home when resorting to value added services from their home country when travelling within the Union, if technically feasible. 2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, customers should be informed in their contract and notified and warned upfront, in a timely, user-friendly manner and free of charge, when communications to value added services numbers in roaming can entail additional charges. They should also be informed in a similar manner of any applicable cut-off limit which consumers can opt-out from, in line with the BEREC guidelines referred to in paragraph 3. 3. Within six months after the adoption of this Regulation, and in order to contribute to the consistent application of this and related provisions, BEREC shall, after consulting stakeholders and in close cooperation with the Commission, update its roaming guidelines regarding how to best implement provisions related to value added services in the interest of consumers and a single market.
Amendment 204 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 2
Article 18 – paragraph 2
2. National regulatory authorities and, where relevant, BEREC shall make up-to- date information on the application of this Regulation, in particular Articles 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12,12, 13 and 18 (new) publicly available in a manner that enablesaccessible to interested parties to have easy access to itincluding persons with disabilities.
Amendment 205 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 7 a (new)
Article 18 – paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Roaming providers shall ensure that all information referred to in Articles 9, 14, 15,16,17 and 18 which is provided to customers, is accessible for persons with disabilities in accordance with requirements of Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act), the information does not exceed a level of complexity superior to level B1 (intermediate) of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, as well as is provided in easy-to-read format.
Amendment 209 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – introductory part
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – introductory part
new1. The Commission shall , after consulting BEREC, submit twobiennal reports to the European Parliament and to the Council. Where necessary, after submitting each report, the Commission shall adopmay submit a delegated act pursuant to Article 22 amending the maximum wholesale charges for regulated roaming services laid down inislative proposal to amend this Regulation. The first such report shall be submitted by 30 June 2025 and the second by 30 June 2029 .
Amendment 211 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – introductory part
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – introductory part
new1. The Commission shall , after consulting BEREC and consumer associations, submit two reports to the European Parliament and to the Council. Where necessary, after submitting each report, the Commission shall adopt a delegated act pursuant to Article 22 amending the maximum wholesale charges for regulated roaming services laid down in this Regulation. The first such report shall be submitted by 30 June 2025 and the second by 30 June 2029 .
Amendment 214 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) the availability and effective quality of services, at retail and wholesale level, including those which are an alternative to regulated retail voice, SMS and data roaming services, in particular in the light of any potential commercial barriers, technological developments and of the access to the different network technologies and generations ;
Amendment 215 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point a a (new)
Article 21 – paragraph new1 – subparagraph 1 – point a a (new)
(a a) Effectiveness of this regulation on ensuring equal access to electronic communications by persons with disabilities when travelling within the EU/EEA.
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. In order to assess competitive developments in the Union-wide roaming markets, BEREC shall collect data regularly from national regulatory authorities on developments in retail and wholesale charges for regulated voice, SMS and data roaming services, including wholesale charges applied for balanced and unbalanced roaming traffic respectively , on the use of trading platforms and similar instruments, on the development of machine-to-machine roaming, and on the extent to whichhow wholesale roaming agreements covereffectively secure the highest quality of service available and give access to different network technologies and generations. BEREC shall also collect data regularly from national regulatory authorities on the application of fair use policy by operators, the developments of domestic-only tariffs, the application of the sustainability mechanisms and complaints on roaming. When consulted pursuant to paragraph 1, BEREC shall collect and provide additional information on other relevant points, including but not limited transparency, the application of measures on emergency communication and on value added services .
Amendment 234 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
It shall also collect data on the wholesale roaming agreements not subject to the maximum wholesale roaming charges provided for in Article 10, 11 or 12 and on the implementation of contractual measures at wholesale level aiming to prevent permanent roaming or anomalous or abusivefraudulent use of wholesale roaming access for purposes other than the provision of regulated roaming services to roaming providers’ customers while the latter are periodically travelling within the Union.
Amendment 241 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 1
Article 22 – paragraph 1
The Commission shall, taking utmost account of the opinion of BEREC, adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 23 to amendlower the maximum wholesale charges that a visited network operator can levy on the roaming provider for the provision of regulated voice, SMS or data roaming services by means of that visited network under Articles 10, 11 and 12.
Amendment 247 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – title
Article 26 – title
26 Entry into force and expiry
Amendment 250 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 2
Article 26 – paragraph 2