Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-09-Speech-3-055-000"
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"en.20120509.17.3-055-000"2
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"Mr President, Mr Wammen, Commissioner, lower prices will be applied to voice calls, SMS and data in favour of all European consumers from 1 July, then again from 1 July 2013, and finally from 1 July 2014.
These reductions will be important because Parliament has called for them and implemented them. In this regard, I would like to thank all my colleagues who have formed a united front when it was needed against the Council and the Commission and I would like, above all, to thank Angelika Niebler, who was an exemplary rapporteur.
The Commission’s initial proposal was not very ambitious. It essentially aimed to lower wholesale prices in order to boost competition, which is largely inexistent among operators. The Council was divided. Many states remain under the influence of their old national monopolies. The Council was therefore seeking to maintain the profits of these national telecommunications champions.
That is precisely where the problem lies in the mobile communication market in the European Union. The market is dominated by a cartel, or at least a
cartel. Four major groups – Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefónica Movistar – share some 80% of the mobile communication market in the EU. They are present in all, or nearly all, national markets, either directly or in conjunction with national operators. However, these groups, which all operate at EU level, want, at all costs, to keep national borders in order to impose roaming charges.
I am among those who believe in the need for competition, the famous invisible hand that was so dear to Adam Smith. However, I believe even more in the need to manage the very visible hand of public authorities in order to intervene in markets and impose price reductions where necessary.
Parliament has just taken an important step towards the progressive abolition of unjustified and unjustifiable roaming charges. Our aim must remain a large internal market which also applies to mobile communications. The Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament in particular has succeeded in insisting that the Commission present a report evaluating developments in prices in the market no later than 30 June 2016.
I will quote Article 19(2): ‘If the report shows that the structural measures provided for by this regulation have not been sufficient to promote competition in the internal market for roaming services for the benefit of all European consumers, or that the differences between roaming tariffs and national tariffs have not approached zero, the Commission shall make appropriate proposals to the European Parliament and the Council to address this situation and thus achieve an internal market for mobile communication services, ultimately with there being no difference between national and roaming tariffs’.
Commissioner, such is and remains our ambition and I know that the vast majority of MEPs support us in this respect.
What we will vote on tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen, is, in fact, a gift for all Europeans for Europe Day, which we are celebrating today. It is a gift that will be very much appreciated because, as Angelika Niebler but also the Commissioner have just said, today, everyone needs their mobile telephone or these other devices that form the world of modern communication."@en1
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