Dear Vice-President Ansip,
Dear Commissioner Oettinger,
Intra-EU telecommunications services (cross-border phone calls and SMS) are often too expensive for most consumers, in particular when it comes to mobile services. This represents a major barrier to the completion of a true Digital Single Market that delivers concrete results for EU consumers.
Now that roaming fees are on course to be abolished, the next necessary step is to put an end to unjustified discrimination in the prices of telecommunications services. In the Single Market, consumers should not have to worry about whether they are calling or texting someone in their Member State or in a different one. Providers should therefore not discriminate the price of their services on the basis of the origin or destination of the call or text message.
The Impact Assessment of the initial proposal for Regulation 2120/20151 found that, considering the convergence of Mobile Termination Rates in the EU, discriminations between the prices that consumers pay for domestic and for intra-EU calls cannot be explained on the basis of real cost differences.
Where there are verifiable costs differences for the provision of a cross-border service, it should be naturally possible for providers to recover these additional costs, and make reasonable profit margins on top. Unfortunately, abusive situations subsist today, as can be seen from the data collected by national consumer organisations in a selection of EU countries shown in Annex 1 to this letter.
Therefore, we urge you to put an end to unjustified discrimination in the prices of telecommunications services in Europe. The upcoming review of the electronic communications regulatory framework is the best opportunity to do so. Achieving this objective will be a major success of the EU that can be easily explained to all EU citizens.
Key Members of the European Parliament from across political groups support our call to eliminate this barrier for the completion of the Digital Single Market for citizens.
We remain at your disposal for any question and to further discussion how to best achieve this objective.
Yours sincerely,
Monique Goyens
BEUC Director General
This letter is co-signed by (in alphabetical order):
- Jan Philipp ALBRECHT, Greens/EFA Group
- José BLANCO LÓPEZ, S&D Group
- Biljana BORZAN, S&D Group
- Dita CHARANZOVÁ, ALDE Group
- Sergio COFFERATI, S&D Group
- Pascal DURAND, Greens/EFA Group
- Evelyne GEBHARDT, S&D Group
- Antanas GUOGA, ALDE Group
- Liisa JAAKONSAARI, S&D Group
- Eva KAILI, S&D Group
- Kaja KALLAS, ALDE Group
- Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI, S&D Group
- Olle LUDVIGSSON, S&D Group
- Marlene MIZZI, S&D Group
- Dan NICA, S&D Group
- Eva PAUNOVA, EPP Group
- Morten PETERSEN, ALDE Group
- Pina PICIERNO, S&D Group
- Carolina PUNSET, ALDE Group
- Julia REDA, Greens/EFA Group
- Viviane REDING, EPP Group
- Michel REIMON, Greens/EFA Group
- Dominique RIQUET, ALDE Group
- Marietje SCHAAKE, ALDE Group
- Christel SCHALDEMOSE, S&D Group
- Marc TARABELLA, S&D Group
- Róża THUN, EPP Group
- Patrizia TOIA, S&D Group
- Kathleen VAN BREMPT, S&D Group
- Martina WERNER, S&D Group
- Carlos ZORRINHO, S&D Group
You can read the original letter and the annexes here
