JOINT STATEMENT BY EU AND UKRAINIAN OPERATORS ON CONNECTIVITY IN SUPPORT OF REFUGEES FROM UKRAINE

On 8 April, at a virtual event, telecom operators based in the EU and in Ukraine have signed a joint statement on their coordinated efforts to secure and stabilise affordable roaming and international calls between the EU and Ukraine.

The joint statement has already been signed by 24 operators based in the EU, 8 of which are ecta members.

The EU operators, signatories of this Joint Statement, commit to the reduction of the wholesale roaming charges and termination rates. The Ukrainian operators, signatories of this Joint Statement, in response to measures undertaken by EU operators, intend to reduce international termination rates for calls to Ukraine originated by EU numbers and calls to Ukraine originated by Ukrainian numbers roaming in the EU, towards the levels allowing EU operators to offer reduced wholesale roaming charges and affordable international calls to end users calling Ukraine, bearing in mind the rates as defined in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/654 and the need for Ukrainian operators to continue offering their services on a sustainable basis.

The press release can be found here.
The Joint Statement can be downloaded here.
The ecta press release can be found here.

ROAMING REGULATION

Following the European Parliament's approval, on 4 April the Council of the EU approved the extension of the roam like at home scheme until 2032.

The revised Roaming Regulation:

• adjusts maximum wholesale prices to ensure that providing retail roaming services at domestic prices is sustainable for operators throughout the EU.
• increases transparency for services that may be subject to extra cost, and will also protect customers from bill shocks resulting from inadvertent roaming on non-terrestrial mobile networks when on ferries or aeroplanes.
• includes measures to ensure a good customer experience in terms of quality of service and access to emergency services, including for people with special needs.

The Commission will monitor the situation and, if necessary, present a new legislative proposal to regulate wholesale price caps and possibly other aspects of the roaming market.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps: The text will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force on 1 July 2022.

DATA GOVERNANCE ACT

On 6 April the European Parliament approved the Data Governance Act with 501 votes to 12, with 40 abstentions. With the new data sharing legislation, businesses will benefit from a lower cost of data and lower market entry barriers, allowing them to place their products faster. Moreover, the new rules will:

• enable the better use of data collected in some public sectors by creating common European data spaces.
• help new intermediaries to be recognised as trustworthy data organisers.
• allow companies, individuals and public organisations to share data easier for the benefit of society.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps: The text will now have to be formally adopted by the Council of the EU before it is published in the Official Journal and enters into force.

EU ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS CODE

On 6 April the European Commission has referred Spain, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden to the Court of Justice of the European Union over their failure to fully transpose the EU Electronic Communications Code and communicate to the Commission.

The press release can be found here.

OPEN DATA

On 6 April the European Commission has sent reasoned opinions to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, The Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia and Sweden asking to communicate information about how EU rules on open data and the reuse of public sector data (Directive EU 2019/1024, referred to as the Open Data directive) are transposed in national law.

The press release can be found here.

CONSUMER POLICY: PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS

The European Commission has launched three public consultations regarding the consumer policy:

(*) Consumer policy – strengthening the role of consumers in the green transition. This initiative mainly aims to ensure that the consumers obtain reliable and useful information on products.

More information can be found here.

Feedback period: 03 April 2022 - 29 May 2022  (midnight Brussels time).

(*) Resolving consumer disputes out of court (report). The Commission will publish two reports in 2023 related to enforcement and out-of-court dispute resolution in the consumer protection area. The reports will take stock of progress in the implementation of the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 as well as the ADR Directive 2013/11 and ODR Regulation (EU) No 524/2013.

More information can be found here.

Consultation period: 04 April 2022 - 27 June 2022 (midnight Brussels time)

(*) Consumer protection law – cross-border enforcement. The report on the implementation of EU legislation on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and online dispute resolution (ODR) aims to: identify the main challenges to ADR and ODR at national and EU level and inform possible future reflections on how to ensure a better uptake of these tools to resolve low-value consumer disputes out of court.

More information can be found here.

Consultation period: 04 April 2022 - 27 June 2022  (midnight Brussels time)

WORKSHOP ON SUB-700 MHZ BAND

The European Commission published the presentations from the Commission Workshop on the use of the sub-700 MHz band. The workshop is a part of the study that the Commission launched in October 2021 to help it in fulfilling its reporting task under Article 7 of the Decision on the UHF band. The study should provide an overview of the latest trends and developments that are relevant to the use of the sub-700 MHz band.

The presentations can be found here.

ACCESS TO E-EVIDENCE

On 5 April the Council of the EU adopted a decision authorising member states to sign, in the interest of the EU, the second additional protocol to the convention on cybercrime of the Council of Europe (Budapest convention).  This protocol will:

• improve cross-border access to electronic evidence to be used in criminal proceedings.
• will contribute to the fight against cybercrime and other forms of crime at global level by simplifying cooperation between member states and third-countries, while ensuring a high level of protection for individuals and the compliance with EU data protection standards.

Currently, 66 countries are party to the Budapest convention, including 26 member states.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps: The protocol is envisaged to be opened for signature on 12 May 2022.