European ministers agreed today to the new EU roaming regulation that was passed by the European Parliament three weeks ago.

The decision means that the new EU roaming regulation has now been accepted by both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, the two law making bodies in the EU, and will come in force on July 1.

According to the new EU law, prices for roaming will be lowered to 29ct/min for calls and 70ct/MB for internet access in July 2012 and will keep going down to 19ct/min for calls and 20ct/MB for internet access by 2014.

Users will also be allowed to choose a different operator for roaming which should bring about more competition.

Consumer protection will be improved when leaving Europe as operators will have to send a warning when the internet bill approaches €50.

This new regulation is a big success for the citizen-led campaign "Europeans for Fair Roaming" that has been calling for further lowering of roaming charges for the last two years. The campaign managed to unite 20 associations, 14 MEPs and 150,000 people behind the goal of making roaming charges in Europe a thing of the past.

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