The EU has agreed to renew the “Roam Like At Home” scheme for another ten years, under plans adopted by the European Parliament this week.

The legislation, a follow-up to the 2017 elimination of roaming surcharges and agreed between Parliament and Council in December, means consumers will continue to be able to use their mobile phones when travelling abroad in the EU with no additional fees on top of what they already pay at home.

The EU said that in addition, they will enjoy the same quality and speed of mobile connection abroad as at home. Roaming providers will be obliged to offer the same roaming quality to that provided domestically, if the same conditions are available on the network of the visiting country.

In negotiations with Council, MEPs secured a provision in the new rules to prohibit practices that reduce the quality of roaming services (e.g. by switching the connection from 4G to 3G).

MEPs also noted that travellers and people with disabilities will have access to emergency services without any additional charge – whether by call or text message, including the transmission of caller location information.

Operators will also have to provide information about the European emergency number 112.

During talks with member state ministers, MEPs pushed for an end to surcharges for intra-EU calls (e.g. when calling from Belgium to Italy), as consumers are still confused about the difference between roaming calls and intra-EU calls.

The costs of intra-EU calls are currently capped at 19 cents per minute. This agreement provides for the Commission to look into this and assess whether further reductions of the caps are necessary.

Wholesale roaming charges – the price operators charge each other when their customers use other networks– will be capped at €2 per Gigabyte (from 2022 and will reduce progressively to €1 in 2027. If consumers exceed their contract limits when roaming, any additional charges cannot be higher than the wholesale roaming caps.

The law, adopted with 581 votes to 2, with 5 abstentions, will now have to be formally endorsed by Council to come into force.

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