FantasticSearch

1. From 15 May 2019, any retail price (excluding VAT) charged to consumers for regulated intra-EU communications shall not exceed EUR 0,19 per minute for calls and EUR 0,06 per SMS message.

2. Notwithstanding the obligations laid down in paragraph 1, providers of regulated intra-EU communications may additionally offer, and consumers may expressly choose, a tariff for international communications including regulated intra-EU communications different from that set in accordance with paragraph 1, by virtue of which consumers benefit from a different tariff for regulated intra-EU communications than they would have been accorded in the absence of such a choice. Before consumers choose such a different tariff, the provider of regulated intra-EU communications shall inform them of the nature of the advantages which would thereby be lost.

3. Where a tariff for regulated intra-EU communications as referred to in paragraph 2 exceeds the caps laid down in paragraph 1, consumers who have not confirmed or expressed, within a period of two months from 15 May 2019, a choice for any tariff as referred to in paragraph 2, shall automatically be provided with the tariffs laid down in paragraph 1.

4. Consumers may switch from or back to the tariffs laid down in paragraph 1 within one working day of receipt of the request by the provider, free of charge and providers shall ensure that such a switch does not entail conditions or restrictions with regard to elements of the subscriptions other than regulated intra-EU communications.

5. Where the maximum prices referred to in paragraph 1 are denominated in a currency other than the euro, the initial limits shall be determined in those currencies by applying the average of the reference exchange rates published on 15 January, 15 February and 15 March 2019 by the European Central Bank in the Official Journal of the European Union. The limits in currencies other than the euro shall be revised annually from 2020. The annually revised limits in those currencies shall apply from 15 May using the average of the reference exchange rates published on 15 January, 15 February and 15 March of the same year.

6. National regulatory authorities shall monitor the market and price developments for regulated intra-EU communications and shall report to the Commission. Where a provider of regulated intra-EU communications establishes that, due to specific and exceptional circumstances distinguishing it from most other Union providers, the application of the cap referred to in paragraph 1 would have significant impact on that provider’s capacity to sustain its existing prices for domestic communications, a national regulatory authority may, upon that provider’s request, grant a derogation from paragraph 1 only to the extent necessary and for a renewable period of one year. The assessment of the sustainability of the domestic charging model shall be based on relevant objective factors specific to the provider of regulated intra-EU communications, as well as the level of domestic prices and revenues. Where the applicant provider has discharged the applicable evidentiary burden, the national regulatory authority shall determine the maximum price level in excess of one or both of the caps set out in paragraph 1 which would be indispensable in order to ensure the sustainability of the provider’s domestic charging model. BEREC shall publish guidelines on the parameters to be taken into account by national regulatory authorities in their assessments.

7. From 1 January 2029, providers shall not apply different retail prices to consumers for domestic communications and intra-EU communications, provided that technical rules on safeguards, such as sustainability, fair use and anti-fraud measures, are adopted. By 30 June 2028, the Commission shall, after consulting BEREC, adopt an implementing act laying down those technical rules in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 5b.

8. From 1 January 2025, providers may on a voluntary basis comply with the obligation not to apply different retail prices laid down in paragraph 7. Those providers shall be exempt from the obligations laid down in paragraph 1, subject to a fair use policy, with a view to bringing the benefits of equal retail prices for domestic and intra-EU communications to consumers earlier. To that end, the Commission shall adopt an implementing act on fair use, based on typical usage patterns, and anti-fraud measures by 31 December 2024, after consulting BEREC. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 5b(2).

9. By 30 June 2027, after consulting BEREC, the Commission shall review this Article, and based on the assessment of its impact, the Commission may, if appropriate, decide to submit a legislative proposal in order to amend it.

10. The assessment referred to in paragraph 9 shall include:

(a) the evolution of the wholesale costs related to the provision of intra-EU communications;

(b) the evolution of competition in the market for the provision of number-based interpersonal communications services and the trend of the retail prices of intra-EU communications within the different Member States;

(c) the evolution of consumer preferences and choice of special offers and bundles not charged on the basis of actual consumption of intra-EU communications;

(d) the possible impact on the national markets for the provision of number-based interpersonal communications services and in particular on the retail prices charged to consumers at large, taking into account the costs of providing intra-EU communications, and the potential impact of the measures on revenues for the providers and, if possible, investment capacity of the providers, in view in particular of the future roll-out of networks in line with the connectivity targets set out in Decision (EU) 2022/2481 where additional charges for intra-EU communications are not already applied;

(e) the extent of the usage, availability and competitiveness of number-independent interpersonal communications services or any alternatives to intra-EU communications;

(f) the evolution of tariff plans as regards the intra-EU communications, and in particular, the extent to which the implementation of the measures provided for in paragraph 8, has produced results in the direction of the elimination of retail price differences for consumers between domestic and intra-EU communications.

11. In order to carry out the assessment referred to in paragraph 9, BEREC shall collect relevant information from national regulatory authorities on a regular basis. Where applicable, national regulatory authorities may provide such data in coordination with other competent authorities. The data collected by BEREC pursuant to this paragraph shall be notified to the Commission at least once a year. The Commission shall make them public. To ensure that BEREC can carry out its obligations under this paragraph, providers shall be obliged to cooperate by providing the requested data, including confidential data, to the relevant national authorities.