Mobile roaming a thorny issue for EU lawmakers

Lawmakers gathered in Brussels Tuesday failed to hammer out an agreement on a law that would slash the cost of mobile-phone roaming in Europe, and planned to take up the issue again next week.

Germany, the acting president of the European Union, represented the 27 national E.U. governments in an informal meeting with the European Parliament and the European Commission, the E.U.’s regulatory branch.

As an initial negotiating position, the German government proposed ceilings of €0.60 ($0.81) to make calls and €0.30 to receive calls while outside a subscriber’s home country.

The ceilings are higher than those agreed by national governments, including Germany, last year (€0.50 and €0.30, respectively). They are far higher than levels preferred by the European Parliament’s influential industry committee (€0.40 and €0.15). In its original proposal the Commission suggested €0.44 per minute for calling and €0.15 for receiving calls.

Subscribers currently pay between €0.50 and €5.00 per minute to make a call outside their home country. The industry has been fighting tough regulation of the roaming sector, claiming that one-size-fits-all price ceilings will impede companies’ abilities to compete on price, and will result in higher prices for domestic calls.

In addition to favoring higher price ceilings, Germany has proposed that mobile phone subscribers should have to proactively choose the official price ceilings, and remain on the tariff plan of their operators as a default (the so-called opt-in approach). And they want a three-month delay before the law takes effect — a request that would allow phone operators to benefit from another profitable summer holiday season with their existing, much higher, roaming prices in place.

Most parliamentarians and the Commission want to make the price ceilings the default setting on phones, allowing subscribers to choose a better offer from their operator if they want (the so-called opt-out approach). They also want the law in place in time for the summer holidays.

Germany’s more industry-friendly approach in the negotiations is a tactic, said Martin Selmayr, the Commission’s spokesman on telecom-related issues.

“In every negotiation it’s smart to start off with a high offer. It’s not surprising Germany upped its ceilings to begin with,” he said.

“The Commission is confident that by the time the European Parliament votes on the regulation on May 9 there will be a good and ambitious agreement,” he added.

Germany’s desire for a three-month delay in implementing the law is a bluff, Selmayr said. “Chancellor Merkel has already said she wants an agreement before the end of the German presidency [June 30],” he said.

The European consumers lobbying group known by its French acronym, BEUC, said Tuesday that Germany’s more pro-industry position “doesn’t appear to be accompanied by any impact analysis,” said Jim Murray, its president

“We did conduct an analysis and we found that the appropriate ceilings should be even lower than those suggested by the Commission,” Murray said. He said the analysis also found that price ceilings on roaming charges don’t automatically lead to higher prices on domestic calls.

“Perhaps Germany bought the false argument that lower ceilings will cause higher domestic prices. The ceilings Germany is now proposing are clearly out of the question,” he said.

No agreement was reached in Tuesday’s three-way meeting but a follow-up meeting was convened in just over a week on May 2.