I thank the Chair. It is a great honour to be here. My Commissioner, Ms Reding, regrets that she cannot come in person. At present she has some legislation before both the European Parliament and the Council. This is an extremely complicated time for her, although she has been highly successful up to now.
Before I discuss roaming charges, I should note it is one of a number of proposals the Commission has announced in this field. They are probably all of some importance to the joint committee, given the broad range of subjects with which it deals. Another proposal pertains to audiovisual media services, which is about to be finalised in Council. In respect of the second pillar, we have some programmes such as the European initiative on e-inclusion for consideration in 2008. Finally, in July we will produce a proposal for a framework for electronic communication, which pertains less to roaming than to all the other issues.
I will turn to roaming. I have more material to hand than it will be possible for me to use. That is fortunate for members listening. As for the background to the roaming proposal, it is important to note that Ireland has been among the strongest supporters of the Commission proposal on roaming in Council. This has been the case both at working level and at ministerial level at the last Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting in December. While members will return to this issue, Ireland is in favour of wholesale and retail regulation and would also favour an intervention in respect of short message service, SMS, and managed network services, MNS. However, it has indicated that it would be willing to accept no intervention in respect of data and SMS as long as there is a strong statement to the effect that prices will be monitored and action taken if prices do not fall.
In respect of the main reasons underlying the roaming proposals, while this has been a long debate, I can be brief. Many people, consumers' organisations, national parliaments and the European Parliament have complained for a long time about the position in respect of roaming. Moreover, the regulators in all countries have been extremely worried in this regard. When the regulators investigated the issue, they concluded that while it was quite possible for them to intervene in the national field, intervention became extremely difficult as soon as two or three different members states were involved. In other words, when one roams outside one's own country, one becomes dependent on the costs of the telephone company in the other country and in the opinion of the regulators, this is extremely difficult, or even legally impossible, to co-ordinate.
This is the reason the Commission commenced work on a roaming regulation. The Commission was not greatly inclined to intervene because it thought the telecommunications companies would see the issue and, as happens in some other sectors, adapt the prices themselves. In the beginning, they did not do anything and thereafter they said they would do something. At present however, we are faced with a situation whereby they have indeed diminished their prices a little but not by as much as one would expect. The first time we made an evaluation, it became clear they had even increased their prices. In fact, the telephone companies have been extremely unwilling to follow the ideas of the Members of the European Parliament and the public.
Consumers in particular have claimed there was too much talk and too little action and this is the reason the Commission was obliged to act in the end. As members are aware, the Commissioner is not someone who by nature favours regulation, except in circumstances that clearly justify it. However, despite various claims that prices have fallen and that most consumers are now benefitting from special packages, in some cases operators still charge standard prices in excess of €1.50 to €2 per minute for a roaming call within Europe. Even when it comes to special packages, one can still pay up to €1 for a 15-second roamed call, or the same amount for receiving a 15-second call.
Clearly, this is not a fair deal and is why regulation is absolutely necessary. A recent Eurobarometer survey that received wide press coverage in every member state provided a timely reminder of just how important the roaming issue is for the public. A clear majority of travellers are either deterred from using their phone or even switch it off altogether. Clearly, this is not a sign of a healthy and well-functioning market, especially if one considers the extent to which mobile phones are used within a country nowadays, as well as the length of time people now spend making calls.
The proposal of the Commission consists of two parts. As members may be aware, one attempts to deal with the wholesale situation. I refer to cases in which, for instance, a company in Ireland makes a deal with a company in Spain to provide a service for Irish people who go to Spain. The second part pertains to the retail position. Although wholesale prices have fallen in recent years, unfortunately that advantage has not been passed on to the consumers but has been added to the profits of the companies involved. Basically, this is the problem.
Finally, we compiled a survey that is on the European Commission's website for all to see, of situations in which people would phone from one country to another. While the average costs are as I noted earlier, there are some ridiculous exceptions. For instance, one is obliged to pay more than €8 per minute for a phone call from Ireland to Malta. That would end if this regulation comes into being. There are different solutions. I will not go into too much detail unless members ask me to. The Commission has produced a proposal, while the Council is thinking about another proposal. There are different thoughts about the matter in the European Parliament. The most likely proposal to be accepted will introduce a maximum tariff. Members will probably have questions about this tariff so I will not go into detail about it.
This approach would lead to a substantial diminishing of cost. If everything goes as foreseen, that would be agreed before the summer. The deal should be made before 1 July when the German Presidency, which is very involved in this, ends its mandate. This is what the Commission would like to do. We hope it will not take any longer and are sure that, at some point, this regulation will become part of the law. We cannot guarantee when it will be introduced because it depends not just on the Commission but on the other institutions. I know everybody would like this bonus to be given to consumers on 1 July.
