Decision at the Summit / Citizens of BiH and the region could soon talk without roaming in Europe

There is a great chance that a decision to abolish roaming for the Western Balkan countries will be made at the European Union Summit beginning today in Sofia. If that happens, it would be the first positive signal for EU citizens of this region for a long time.

Since 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the countries of the region - Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia have launched initiatives to abolish roaming in EU countries. So far, any such attempt has been unsuccessful.

Activation of the initiative, or the signing of an agreement on the abolition of roaming for all countries of the Western Balkans, would mean that residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania might be able to talk without roaming charges this year.

Namely, the EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Marie Gabriel, at the EU and Western Balkans summit in Bulgaria, intends to present a plan to abolish the payment of roaming between EU member states and the Western Balkan countries.

The summit is being held today in Bulgaria, which has assumed the presidency of the Council of Europe (VE) since January this year. Thus, after a law that prohibits mobile operators from additional charges for telephone calls, SMS and mobile internet in other EU member states, and the Western Balkan countries gradually came to this favorable situation in June last year.

After Bulgaria took over the EU presidency, it reactivated the initiative and announced that the agreement on the abolition of roaming for all the countries of the Western Balkans could be signed at Sofia Summit and accession to that European directive, which means that roaming would be completely abolished .

However, the realization of the plan can last for years, and Commissioner Gabriel is trying to diminish the expectations of BiH, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania.

"It is important for me not to wake up any unrealistic expectations, what can not be realized," said the commissioner, Gabriel. "It took ten years for the abolition of roaming within the EU, and who knows how much it will need in the countries of the Western Balkans.

We recall that, in the case of the abolition of roaming in EU countries, there was strong resistance from telecommunications companies that claimed that the ban would lead to strict regulation of prices, which could harm their business. And Bulgaria, as one of the priorities of its six-month presidency, set the EU Council "speeding up the EU's digital policy in the Western Balkans through gradually reducing roaming charges and improving access to broadband."

• 17 May, 2018
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