EU Opens Western Balkans Roaming Talks, but Surcharges Have Not Ended

Talks begin, but phone bills do not change overnight

The European Commission said on 6 November that bilateral negotiations had opened to bring six Western Balkans partners into the European Union’s Roam Like at Home system. That is a change in the diplomatic process, not a change already applied to mobile subscriptions. Travellers crossing between the EU and the region should not assume that calling, texting or mobile data has become free of additional roaming charges.

The Commission named Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Its stated objective is to let people travelling in either direction use mobile services without the extra charges normally associated with an international roaming connection. But the announcement explicitly places that outcome after negotiations, regulatory alignment and a further Council step, rather than on the day the talks opened.

Independent European coverage also describes the event as the beginning of negotiations. No implementation date appears in the Commission’s 6 November release, and consumers still need to verify the terms of their own mobile contracts before departing.

Sources: Commission opens negotiations to extend ‘Roam Like at Home’ to the Western Balkans · Zero roaming charges in the Western Balkans: the EU begins negotiations · Roaming: Questions & Answers

Six partners, and two different roaming areas

The six Western Balkans partners already have a roaming arrangement among themselves. A regional agreement signed in 2019 led to the removal of additional roaming charges within the six-party area from 1 July 2021. That existing regional benefit is real, but it does not automatically cover journeys from the Western Balkans to EU member countries, or the reverse.

The EU’s Roam Like at Home area is a different legal and commercial framework. According to the Council’s June announcement, it covers EU members, the three European Economic Area countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and, since January 2026, Ukraine and Moldova. The Western Balkans six are candidates for a future extension rather than current participants in that EU-wide arrangement.

That geography explains why a resident of one Western Balkan partner may already enjoy regionally regulated roaming while still encountering different charges on a trip to an EU destination. The reverse journey can also attract charges, depending on the operator and tariff. The new talks aim to close that gap; they have not yet closed it.

Sources: Roam like at home: Council authorises talks on extending scheme to Western Balkans partners · Roaming: Questions & Answers · The Western Balkans become a roaming free zone: the “Roam Like at Home” regime starts on 1 July with the support of the EU

What has to happen before the area expands

The Council authorised negotiations on 4 June 2026. The Commission’s November announcement marks the next visible step: bilateral talks with each of the six partners. The proposed sector-specific agreements will be anchored to existing Stabilisation and Association Agreements, established frameworks for the partners’ economic integration and closer cooperation with the EU.

Reaching a political agreement alone would not be enough. The Council says each partner must align with and implement the EU’s roaming rules, and the Commission must assess compliance. The requirements involve more than the prices visible on a consumer bill. They also concern wholesale arrangements between operators and the ability of domestic authorities to monitor and enforce the rules.

The Council describes further decisions by joint bodies under the relevant agreements following a positive assessment, allowing reciprocal market opening. The Commission’s shorter November account says it will invite the Council to extend the EU roaming area once agreements are finalised and partners have fully aligned. Read together, the two statements describe a staged process, not a signed universal waiver of roaming charges.

There is no published completion deadline in the Commission’s consumer guidance. No credible date for the first traveller to receive the expanded EU benefit can be inferred simply from the start of talks.

Sources: Commission opens negotiations to extend ‘Roam Like at Home’ to the Western Balkans · Roam like at home: Council authorises talks on extending scheme to Western Balkans partners · Roaming: Questions & Answers

Reduced data prices are not the same as free roaming

The region and the EU did not begin cooperation on roaming prices this week. Operators from both sides signed a voluntary declaration in December 2022, with initial reductions taking effect on 1 October 2023. The European Commission said 38 operators had agreed to work toward more affordable data roaming; the commitment concerned participating companies and specific offers, not every possible contract across the two regions.

The Regional Cooperation Council explains the important qualification: under the declaration, at least one broadly available product from each signatory should provide one gigabyte of roaming data for less than €18 from October 2023, less than €14 from 2026 and less than €9 from 2028. These are milestones for participating operators’ offers, not a promise that every gigabyte on every tariff costs precisely that amount.

Operators could implement reductions through packages rather than changing all their standard rates. The Commission confirmed in October 2023 that the first voluntary cuts had started. A cheaper prepaid roaming bundle, however, is still a priced service and should not be described as full EU Roam Like at Home. The latter is a rules-based framework for eligible travel, with its own safeguards and fair-use provisions.

Sources: Decrease of data roaming fees between the Western Balkans and the EU · Regional Cooperation Council | EU-Western Balkans reduced roaming prices information · Decrease of data roaming fees between the Western Balkans and the EU · Roaming: Questions & Answers

A practical check for people travelling now

For travellers planning a journey between an EU country and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia or Serbia, the relevant question remains what their actual mobile operator includes. They should check destination-specific roaming packages, data allowances, call and text rates, and any conditions before activating data abroad. A discounted offer may exist, but eligibility and price depend on the contract.

The Commission’s consumer guidance also distinguishes Roam Like at Home from an unlimited entitlement to any amount of data. Within the existing EU framework, occasional travel and fair-use conditions can matter, particularly for certain unlimited or very low-priced domestic plans. Therefore even a future extension would need to be explained through its applicable rules, not through the simplistic claim that every mobile service becomes costless.

The safest reading of the November milestone is narrow: Brussels has begun negotiating the legal conditions for extending a consumer protection. A traveller cannot treat the planned extension as an existing right, and the Commission has not announced a date on which charges between the EU and all six partners must disappear.

Sources: Commission opens negotiations to extend ‘Roam Like at Home’ to the Western Balkans · Roaming: Questions & Answers · Regional Cooperation Council | EU-Western Balkans reduced roaming prices information

Why a technical negotiation has political weight

Removing roaming surcharges can make cross-border travel and routine contact easier for students, families, tourists and companies. The Council framed the June authorisation as a practical sign of closer regional integration. Yet the benefits depend on implementation: the Commission must secure agreements, partners must apply compatible rules and regulators must be equipped to enforce them.

The Western Balkans’ own experience offers a useful comparison. Regional roaming changes were introduced in stages after the 2019 agreement and reached their full intra-regional arrangement in July 2021. Later voluntary deals reduced some EU–Western Balkans data charges without creating the same comprehensive regime. The histories are related, but they mark different levels of consumer protection.

For now, the news is that negotiations have opened, not that the EU’s roaming map has already changed. The next developments worth watching are completed bilateral texts, evidence of each partner’s regulatory alignment, Commission compliance assessments and the required institutional decisions. Only those later steps can establish when travellers will actually enjoy the proposed expansion.

Sources: Roam like at home: Council authorises talks on extending scheme to Western Balkans partners · The Western Balkans become a roaming free zone: the “Roam Like at Home” regime starts on 1 July with the support of the EU · Decrease of data roaming fees between the Western Balkans and the EU · Commission opens negotiations to extend ‘Roam Like at Home’ to the Western Balkans