OCU DENOUNCES THAT THE EU COUNCIL IS TRYING TO DELAY THE ELIMINATION OF ROAMING CHARGES

In April 2014 the European Parliament adopted a resolution which would gradually phase out roaming charges by December 2015. These fees are charged by operators to consumers when they are outside their country of residence. These rates are significantly higher than national rates and are the main reason why Europeans do not use mobile phones when they travel outside their country.

Now the Council Presidency has proposed that the total disappearance of roaming be delayed until at least 2018. For OCU there is no cost-based reason to charge a different rate abroad, beyond the rapacious greed of the companies at the expense of consumers. In addition, OCU has repeatedly criticised the ambiguous way companies inform consumers about their rates and the negative consequences this has for consumers with extremely high phone bills.

Despite the agreement of Parliament, the governments of the European Union have bowed to pressure from operators and decided to propose an extension of at least three years for the elimination of roaming charges. Once again, citizens look on perplexed as business interests are raised above the interests of citizens and the decisions of the institutions that represent them.

OCU announces that we will fight with all the means at our disposal against this initiative which is clearly harmful to consumers and which means they will have to pay very expensive rates for three more years without any justification. Therefore it will ask the Spanish government to make a commitment to the EU Parliament and oppose the proposal of the Council Presidency.

For more information (media) Eva Jimenez Tel.   917 226 061 prensa@ocu.org