European Commission proposes limiting free roaming to three months per year

The European Commission has proposed that mobile phone operators should be able to reduce to 90 days the exemption from roaming charges as a preventive measure against possible abuses by customers.

The European Union will put an end in June 2017 to overcharging for roaming calls, messages and data packages for Europeans traveling in another member state, but it will do so with limits to avoid market distortions; with limits to avoid market distortions as agreed by member states with the Eurocámara.

As Europa Press reports, Brussels is in favor of the European consumer "being able to roam at national prices for at least 90 days a year", according to the draft that it has submitted to the 28.

The EU executive was keen to stress that this is a minimum threshold that mobile operators can improve in time or with unlimited unlimited offers, and that the aim is to ensure that companies do not offer less.

EU spokeswoman Nathalie Vandystadt has rejected that the measure is restrictive: "It meets the needs of Europeans, who on average travel less than three months a year to another member state.

It also clarifies that this limitation will not affect Europeans in border areas who, for example, work on one side of the border and reside on the other, as they cannot be considered to be making "bad" use of the  roaming rules.

The proposal will now be discussed by experts from member states. Brussels aims to be able to approve it before next December 15.

The Commission believes that this provision will prevent abuses by consumers, such as buying a SIM card in another member state to the one of residence to operate from their own at lower prices.