The European Commission has withdrawn proposals that would limit next year's abolition of mobile roaming charges after criticism that the rules should go further to favour telecoms firms' customers.
In a dramatic move just four days after officials published rules on "fair use" to limit how many days consumers could use phones abroad without extra charges, President Jean-Claude Juncker ordered the draft revised in what political allies said was a sign the EU executive was listening to ordinary voters.
Three months after the British public delivered a shattering blow to the European Union by voting to leave the bloc, Juncker and leaders of the other EU states are working to restore trust in an institution which insurgent eurosceptics say is out of touch and in the pockets of big, globalised corporations.
Noting that a draft of the "fair use" policy was published on Monday, a note on the Commission website read: "The Commission services have, on the instruction of President Juncker, withdrawn the draft and are working on a new version."
A new proposal would be issued "soon", another statement said, adding that since 2007 EU rules had helped bring about a reduction of 90 per cent in roaming fees for calls and data.
"Contrary to some media reports, roaming charges are going to disappear entirely by June 2017. Period," Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein told a news conference, describing it as a "major success" for EU policymakers.
Monday's proposal would have let companies charge roaming fees to consumers who used their phones abroad for more than 90 days in a year or for more than 30 days in a row. Winterstein said that on average EU citizens spent 12 days abroad per year.
"We have been listening and now we are going back to the drawing board," he said.
CITIZENS PROMISED
The leader of the centre-right bloc in the European Parliament, which supported the conservative former premier of Luxembourg in his appointment as Commission president, hailed Juncker's move and said people expected him to make good on promises over many years to stop mobile phone companies adding charges when subscribers used their devices in other EU states.
"The pressure from the EPP Group is bearing fruit," the bloc's German chairman, Manfred Weber, said in a statement.
"We are pushing for an end to roaming fees for European consumers in 2017 in full transparency. This is what we promised citizens and we still support it. We expect the European Commission to give a strong signal in this direction next week."
Juncker will present his annual State of the Union speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday and officials say it is likely to contain proposals to promote economic growth and further remove barriers inside Europe's single market.
EU officials say that Juncker is determined to fight back against the rise of eurosceptic parties, including in France, Germany and the Netherlands which hold elections next year, by ensuring the Commission demonstrates it is acting for voters.
Over the summer, the Commission decided not to levy fines on Spain and Portugal for breaking budget rules in the euro zone.
Last week, it made headlines by handing a record 13-billion euro tax demand to iPhone maker Apple Inc, saying the Irish government had effectively given it illegal subsidies by failing to collect taxes on profits routed through Ireland.
Winterstein said that the draft "fair use" policy on roaming had been issued before Juncker had seen it and described that as normal procedure for such technical regulations. Once Juncker saw it, following adverse public reaction, he decided it was "not good enough", Winterstein said, and wanted it improved.