End to fees on Intra-EU phone calls under Renew Europe’s watch

Under Renew Europe’s and MEP Alin MITUȚA’s (REPER, Romania) leadership, an agreement on the Gigabit Infrastructure Act was reached on Monday night between the Parliament and Council. This new piece of legislation is responding to citizens and businesses’ urgent and rising need for more bandwidth and very high capacity networks across the Union.

A top priority and success in the negotiations for Renew Europe is the abolishment of any extra fees on intra-EU calls as of 2029.

MEP Alin MITUȚA says:

"I welcome that this regulation puts an end to communication borders within the EU. I have fought hard to ensure that calls from and to anyone anywhere in Europe as from 2029 will be seamlessly aligned with your domestic fees. This is where EU delivers directly to its citizens and businesses. Until 2029, the current caps will continue to apply."

‘I am also pleased that we have a found common EU approach to provide high-speed internet access to every EU citizen, bridging the connectivity gap between rural and remote areas and their urban counterparts, as well as ensuring a better coverage of transport corridors. This landmark deal will push us forward in the digital race."

The new EU rules will further on make the deployment of high-speed internet infrastructure faster, cheaper, and easier. Renew Europe has successfully pushed for these rules to ensure that everyone, especially people in rural and remote areas, can benefit from better and faster internet access. We also succeeded in making it mandatory for all new buildings and buildings undergoing major renovations to install fibre. At the same time, we have put an end to endless digging on streets, as civil works will need to be coordinated between different types of interventions, for example, fibre installations, water providers, and telecoms, thus decreasing the inconvenience of construction work in public areas. Finally, new EU-wide rules limit operators' paperwork processing times to a maximum of four months, making it quicker and cheaper for them to deploy internet services.