The Industry Committee of the European Parliament adopted on 18 March the draft regulation on the single telecoms market. The complex regulation contains several important measures. The most debated are abolition of roaming fees inside the EU, single telecom license, net neutrality or spectrum coordination. According to the MEPs´ proposal, retail roaming fees are to be abolished inside the EU from 15 December 2015. Blocking of certain internet services will not be possible without, for example, a court order. Telecoms companies will no longer be able to block e.g. Skype inside their network. However, they will be allowed to provide higher than standard quality for specific services. In order to encourage development of 4G networks across EU, and new 5G networks, frequency spectrum allocation is to be better coordinated. The draft regulation will be voted on by the EP on its last plenary before the May EP elections. However, a deal with the Council on this legislation will be one of the first tasks of the newly elected EP. Several Member States have declared that the proposed legislation is “too much” for them, e.g. concerning the spectrum allocation coordination, singe telecom license or the quick abolition of roaming fees. Tough negotiations can therefore be expected.

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