Chapter X, Article 50, Point (4) · Regulation (EU) 2018/1971

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(4)the following Article is inserted:‘Article 5aRetail charges for regulated intra-EU communications1.From 15 May 2019, any retail price (excluding VAT) charged to consumers for regulated intra-EU communications shall not exceed EUR 0,19 per minute for calls and EUR 0,06 per SMS message.2.Notwithstanding the obligations laid down in paragraph 1, providers of regulated intra-EU communications may additionally offer, and consumers may expressly choose, a tariff for international communications including regulated intra-EU communications different from that set in accordance with paragraph 1, by virtue of which consumers benefit from a different tariff for regulated intra-EU communications than they would have been accorded in the absence of such a choice. Before consumers choose such a different tariff, the provider of regulated intra-EU communications shall inform them of the nature of the advantages which would thereby be lost.3.Where a tariff for regulated intra-EU communications as referred to in paragraph 2 exceeds the caps laid down in paragraph 1, consumers who have not confirmed or expressed, within a period of two months from 15 May 2019, a choice for any tariff as referred to in paragraph 2, shall automatically be provided with the tariffs laid down in paragraph 1.4.Consumers may switch from or back to the tariffs laid down in paragraph 1 within one working day of receipt of the request by the provider, free of charge and providers shall ensure that such a switch does not entail conditions or restrictions with regard to elements of the subscriptions other than regulated intra-EU communications.5.Where the maximum prices referred to in paragraph 1 are denominated in a currency other than the euro, the initial limits shall be determined in those currencies by applying the average of the reference exchange rates published on 15 January, 15 February and 15 March 2019 by the European Central Bank in the Official Journal of the European Union. The limits in currencies other than the euro shall be revised annually from 2020. The annually revised limits in those currencies shall apply from 15 May using the average of the reference exchange rates published on 15 January, 15 February and 15 March of the same year.6.National regulatory authorities shall monitor the market and price developments for regulated intra-EU communications and shall report to the Commission.Where a provider of regulated intra-EU communications establishes that, due to specific and exceptional circumstances distinguishing it from most other Union providers, the application of the cap referred to in paragraph 1 would have significant impact on that provider’s capacity to sustain its existing prices for domestic communications, a national regulatory authority may, upon that provider’s request, grant a derogation from paragraph 1 only to the extent necessary and for a renewable period of one year. The assessment of the sustainability of the domestic charging model shall be based on relevant objective factors specific to the provider of regulated intra-EU communications, as well as the level of domestic prices and revenues.Where the applicant provider has discharged the applicable evidentiary burden, the national regulatory authority shall determine the maximum price level in excess of one or both of the caps set out in paragraph 1 which would be indispensable in order to ensure the sustainability of the provider’s domestic charging model. BEREC shall publish guidelines on the parameters to be taken into account by national regulatory authorities in their assessments.’;