Once in place, Ukrainian visitors will no longer have to pay any additional charges to use their mobile phones when travelling in the EU, while travellers from the EU will benefit from the same rights when visiting Ukraine.

Bringing Ukraine into our ‘roam like at home’ initiative means we have reached the next important milestone in our ever-deepening relationship. It will make life easier for Ukrainian citizens coming to the EU, and help EU citizens travelling to Ukraine. It demonstrates our clear commitment to fully implement our ambitious Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, and represents yet another sign that Ukraine’s future is in the EU. Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade.

The proposal will now be considered by the Council of the European Union. Following the Council’s agreement, a Joint Decision will need to be taken by the EU-Ukraine Trade Committee to grant mutual internal market treatment for roaming.

At the moment, EU and Ukrainian telecom operators offer affordable or free calls between the EU and Ukraine, on a voluntary basis. These measures were recently extended by six months and the new arrangement now also covers calls to fixed line numbers in Ukraine as well as new types of operators.

Image/story: Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations