L167/12 Official Journal of the European Union 29.6.2009 REGULATION (EC) No 544/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 June 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 on roaming on public mobile telephone networks within the Community and Directive 2002/21/EC on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 95 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Having consulted the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (?), Whereas: 1 Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 (}) imposed, on an excep- tional and temporary basis, limits on the charges that may be levied by mobile operators, at wholesale and retail lev- els, for the provision of international roaming services for voice calls originating and terminating within the Commu- nity. That Regulation also laid down rules aimed at increas- ing price transparency and improving the provision of information on charges to users of Community-wide roaming services. The Commission has carried out a review in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 717/2007, where it was required to evaluate whether the objectives of that Regulation had been achieved, to review developments in wholesale and retail charges for the provision to roaming customers of voice and data communications services, including SMS and MMS, and to include, if appropriate, recommendations regarding the need to regulate those ser- vices. In its report to the European Parliament and the Council, contained in its Communication of 23 Septem- ber 2008 on the outcome of the review of the functioning of Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 of the European Parlia- ment and of the Council of 27 June 2007 on roaming on public mobile telephone networks within the Community and amending Directive 2002/21/EC, the Commission concluded that it was appropriate to extend the validity of Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 beyond 30 June 2010. (1) Opinion of 15 January 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (%) Opinion of the European Parliament of 22 April 2009 (not yet pub- lished in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 8 June 2009. () OJL 171, 29.6.2007, p. 32. G) Furthermore, the Commission found that the scope of Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 should be extended to cover the provision within the Community of SMS and data roaming services. The special characteristics exhibited by the international roaming markets, which justified the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 and the impo- sition of obligations on mobile operators with regard to the provision of Community-wide voice roaming calls, apply equally to the provision of Community-wide SMS and data roaming services. Like voice roaming services, SMS and data roaming services are not purchased indepen- dently at national level but constitute only part of a broader retail package purchased by customers from their home provider, thereby limiting the competitive forces at play. Likewise, because of the cross-border nature of the services concerned, national regulatory authorities which are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the interests of mobile customers resident within their territory are not able to control the behaviour of the operators of the vis- ited network, situated in other Member States. Structural problems relating to roaming services should be easier to solve in a genuine single market for mobile com- munication services, which is not fully in place at present, but which should be the ultimate aim of any regulatory framework. For this reason the national regulatory authorities, acting within the European Regulators Group for Electronic Com- munications Networks and Services (ERG), established by Commission Decision 2002/627[EC (¥), in its response to the public consultation on the review of Regulation (EC) No 717/2007, once again called on the Commission to act at Community level, both as regards the prolongation of the Regulation and with regard to the regulation of SMS roaming and data roaming services. Data on the development of prices for Community-wide voice roaming services since the entry into force of Regu- lation (EC) No 717/2007, including in particular those col- lected by national regulatory authorities and reported on a quarterly basis through the medium of the ERG, do not provide sufficient evidence to suggest that competition at the retail or wholesale levels is likely to be sustainable from June 2010 onwards in the absence of regulatory measures. Such data indicates that retail and wholesale prices are clustering at or close to the limits set by Regulation (EC) No 717/2007, with only limited competition below those limits. () OJ L 200, 30.7.2002, p. 38.