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To speak like at home

2025-07-26 19:27:00, Opinione Ditmir Bushati

Yesterday, the European Union decided to include Ukraine and Moldova in the "roam like at home" mobile telephony regime. This decision, with tangible effects for citizens, will be implemented from 1 January 2026. The transition period until the beginning of next year will serve the parties to ensure that everything related to this EU internal market policy will be implemented correctly.

This policy, which was first implemented within the EU in 2017, allows people to use their mobile phones (talk, text and surf the internet) just like in their home country anywhere in the EU, such as in countries that are part of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) or in the United Kingdom.

But yesterday's EU decision goes beyond this . For the first time, it allows EU candidate countries (Ukraine and Moldova) to join this part of the EU's internal market.

For Ukraine, this move is not entirely unexpected. Shortly after the outbreak of war in 2022, EU mobile operators, in cooperation with Ukrainian ones, reached an agreement that allowed Ukrainians in the EU to benefit from free or very low roaming costs while using their mobile phones. The above measure may have been easier for the EU to take, compared to other Ukraine-related policies, such as removing trade barriers for Ukrainian goods or engaging in agricultural policy, due to the importance of agriculture in the Ukrainian economy and the interests of EU member states that benefit from subsidies.

In addition to the EU's political will to include candidate countries such as Ukraine and Moldova in this internal market policy related to the provision of mobile telephony services, the legal environment governing these countries' relations with the EU is helpful. The Association Agreements in force between the EU and these two countries provide for what is known as the "mutual internal market treatment" provision for a product or service such as roaming. This means that if Ukraine and Moldova align their legislation with that of the EU for a product or service, such as roaming, and the EU is satisfied with the implementation of the standards, they become part of the EU's internal market in that specific area.

Although the Western Balkan countries do not have a similar provision in their Stabilization and Association Agreements with the EU, because they were signed much earlier than the EU's eastern neighbors, in political terms, it is inexplicable why the EU has not yet taken the same action for our countries. Due to the human interaction with EU countries, this would constitute a great convenience for the citizens of the region.

In practical terms, it is quite possible, as the six countries of our region have already adopted a "roam like home" policy among themselves. Unlike Ukraine and Moldova, in the Western Balkans there is no part of the territory under occupation where the network coverage of mobile operators can be questioned. Also, the number of citizens and subscribers of the countries of our region is smaller than that of Ukraine. Consequently, the financial losses of mobile operators would be smaller, while the practical benefits of citizens would be large.

Therefore, it is time for the governments of the Western Balkan countries to work diligently together with the EU to provide our citizens with the same facilities as Ukrainians and Moldovans.