As EU moves to end mobile roaming charges Australian consumer group roaming regulations

An Australian consumer group has renewed calls for the regulation of mobile roaming charges with the EU voting to bring an end to the hugely unpopular fees, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The European Commission while adopting controversial telecommunications reforms overnight said it would create a "fully connected" Europe with the abolition of roaming charges.

These were extra fees paid by customers who used their mobile phones or portable devices while abroad.

A similar agreement between telcos in Australia and New Zealand failed to get through the Australian parliament. The move would have resulted in cheaper calls, texts, and data for Australians who used their mobile phones in New Zealand.

European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament that it was vital that there be a real "single market" in telecommunications to ensure the EU was not left behind.

According to Barroso, the proposal would lower prices for consumers, Europe would be more and more digital ... and give new opportunities to consumers.

He added, reforming the telecommunications industry to break down national barriers was "key for competitiveness and employment (and) lays foundations for prosperity for years to come."

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) spokesman Asher Moses terming the changes in Europe "commendable" hoped it would put the trans-Tasman agreement back on the agenda.

Meanwhile Barroso said in his State of the Union at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, that the EU should avoid over-regulating Europe's economy, euronews.com reports.

''Europe must focus on where it can add most value. Where this is not the case, it should not meddle. The EU needs to be big on big things and smaller on smaller things – something we may occasionally have neglected in the past,'' Barroso told MEPs.

However, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt, however, insisted that the answer to Europe's problems was deeper, unfettered integration.

''It is true that the crisis was badly handled by EU leaders in power today. But to say that we should return towards nation states, as the eurosceptics do, is wrong. It's a lie. Because the reality is that we need more Europe, a united Europe, and an economic vision,'' he told euronews.

British conservative Martin Callanan, who found little substance amongst the rhetoric of Barroso's address said, it was an extremely long and boring speech and as usual with Barroso it was very high on rhetoric but, very low on the actual actions.

He called for concentration on the bread & butter, completion of the single market and having a proper impactful service directive. He added those were the things that would make a real difference.