Contents
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(4), first subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,Whereas:
(1)The Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, and their Member States of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other partnote (‘the Agreement’) entered into force on 1 September 2017.
(2)Pursuant to Article 11 of Annex XVII to the Agreement, the Association Committee in Trade configuration (‘the Trade Committee’) may modify Annex XVII to that Agreement.
(3)The Trade Committee should adopt the draft Decision on modifying Appendix XVII-3 (Rules applicable to telecommunication services) of Annex XVII to the Agreement in the course of 2023.
(4)As stated in the preamble to the Agreement and in accordance with Article 124 of the Agreement, the Parties recognise the importance of the approximation of Ukraine’s existing legislation to that of the European Union, meaning that Ukraine is to ensure that its existing laws and future legislation will be gradually made compatible with the Union acquis.
(5)Ukraine has requested further integration with regards to the roaming sector in the Union, in particular through internal market treatment of roaming services.
(6)Considering that Appendix XVII-3 (Rules applicable to telecommunication services) of Annex XVII to the Agreement should be complemented by the relevant Union acts relating to roaming on public mobile communications networks, it is necessary to modify that Appendix by adding Regulation (EU) 2022/612 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2286note, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/654note and Regulation (EU) 2018/1971 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote. Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote is already covered by Appendix XVII-3 of Annex XVII to the Agreement.
(7)It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the Trade Committee, as the Decision modifying Appendix XVII-3 (Rules applicable to telecommunication services) of Annex XVII to the Agreement will be binding upon the Union,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1#
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the course of 2023 within the Association Committee in Trade configuration, established by the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part, as regards the modification of Appendix XVII-3 (Rules applicable to telecommunication services) of Annex XVII to that Agreement shall be based on the draft Decision of that Committee attached to this Decision.
Appendix XVII-3 (Rules applicable to telecommunication services) shall be modified by adding under section ‘A. Overall European electronic communications policy’ and after the item related to ‘Directive 2014/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks’ the following:
‘Regulation (EU) 2022/612 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union (recast)The provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptation: Article 1(4) refers to reference exchange rates published by the European Central Bank in the Official Journal of the European Union. For as long as the European Central Bank does not publish exchange rates for the Ukrainian hryvnia, exchange rates between the euro and the Ukrainian hryvnia published by the National Bank of Ukraine shall be used for the purposes of applying Article 1(4). The reference periods and conditions laid down in Article 1(4) remain unchanged.
—Implement all provisions with the exception of:
—Article 7 - Implementation of fair use policy and of sustainability mechanism, Paragraphs 1-3. The exception regarding Article 7(1)-(3) is without prejudice to Ukraine’s obligation to implement the Implementing Acts on the application of fair use policies, the methodology for assessing sustainability of the provision of retail roaming services at domestic prices and the application to be submitted by a roaming provider for the purpose of the assessment of the sustainability
—Article 20 - Committee procedure
—With regard to national calls originated from and terminated to Ukrainian numbers in Ukraine, Article 1(3) shall become applicable within 3 years from the date specified in an eventual decision by the Trade Committee to grant internal market treatment for roaming pursuant to Article 4(3) of Annex XVII
—The national regulatory authority of Ukraine with primary responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day operation of the markets for electronic communications networks and services shall participate fully in the work of the Board of Regulators of BEREC, the working groups of BEREC and the Management Board of the BEREC Office. The national regulatory authority of Ukraine shall have the same rights and obligations as the national regulatory authorities of the EU Member States, except for the right to vote and for the Chairmanship of the Board of Regulators and of the Management Board
—Article 1(4) shall be implemented before an eventual decision by the Trade Committee to grant internal market treatment for telecommunications services pursuant to Article 4(3) of Annex XVII
—In light thereof, the national regulatory authority of Ukraine shall be represented at an appropriate level in accordance with the provisions of the BEREC Regulation. In accordance with the relevant rules of the EU regulations mentioned above, BEREC and the BEREC Office shall, as the case may be, assist the national regulatory authority of Ukraine in the performance of its tasks.
—The national regulatory authority of Ukraine shall take the utmost account of any guideline, opinion, recommendation, common position and best practices adopted by BEREC with the aim of ensuring the consistent implementation of the regulatory framework for electronic communications.
Timetable: the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/612 shall be implemented within 12 months after the date of entry into force of Decision [x/2023].Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2286 of 15 December 2016 laying down detailed rules on the application of fair use policy and on the methodology for assessing the sustainability of the abolition of retail roaming surcharges and on the application to be submitted by a roaming provider for the purposes of that assessmentTimetable: the provisions of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2286 shall be implemented within 12 months after the date of entry into force of Decision [x/2023].Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/654 of 18 December 2020 supplementing Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council by setting a single maximum Union-wide mobile voice termination rate and a single maximum Union-wide fixed voice termination rateThe provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptations: Article 3(2) and (3) refer to reference exchange rates published by the European Central Bank in the Official Journal of the European Union. For as long as the European Central Bank does not publish exchange rates for the Ukrainian hryvnia, exchange rates between the euro and the Ukrainian hryvnia published by the National Bank of Ukraine shall be used for the purposes of applying Article 3(2) and (3). The reference periods and conditions laid down in Article 3(2) and (3) remain unchanged.Timetable: the provisions of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/654 shall be implemented before those of Regulation (EU) 2022/612 and within 11 months after the date of entry into force of Decision [x/2023], with the following exceptions:Regulation (EU) 2018/1971 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the Agency for Support for BEREC (BEREC Office), amending Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009Timetable: the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1971 shall be implemented within 12 months after the date of entry into force of Decision [x/2023].’.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.