by Arielle Verley

HANOVER, Germany (AFP) - European Information and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said on Thursday she expected a deal on trimming the high cost of using mobile phones abroad by the end of June. "I am very confident that we can obtain an ambitious agreement so that in early June the (European) Council can take a decision and the Parliament in May so that both institutions could reach an agreement before summer," she said. "Every effort should be made to successfully conclude the legislative process on the reduction of roaming tariffs by the end of the first half of 2007."

Reding was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the world’s biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT, ahead of an informal meeting here of EU telecoms ministers on a number of topics including so-called "roaming" charges. The gathering will be the last before a formal ministers’ meeting in Brussels June 6 and 7. The European Parliament will vote in May on the issue, amid serious strain between telecommunications firms and the European Commission. The Commission put forward proposals in July for bringing down roaming rates, which remain far higher than call made domestically in the EU.

Frustrated that operators had paid little heed to calls for lower roaming fees, the Commission suggested fixing the wholesale roaming rates that mobile phone companies charge each other. With evidence that prices for roaming calls can run up to six times those of local mobile phone calls, it also proposed to cap the retail rates that companies can impose, as well as the cost of calls received abroad. European deputies have until March 9 to put forward amendments to the existing bill. Economy Minister Michael Glos of Germany, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, on Wednesday renewed his call for Europe-wide regulation on roaming fees, saying the current cost of using a cell phone abroad is "much too high." "Europe-wide regulation that will cut costs for citizens on a lasting basis is urgently needed," Glos said in a statement released ahead of the opening of the CeBIT.

"The aim of the regulation will be to safeguard customers against excessive roaming fees," he said. "At the informal meeting on Thursday, I will do everything I can so that we draw up and agree on a common position." Thursday’s meeting was aimed at "advancing debate for further discussion," Glos said, adding that key details, such as price levels and regulation, had yet to be worked out. Germany has set the target of getting a deal under its EU presidency, running until the end of June, so holidaymakers can enjoy cheaper rates while abroad next summer.