The telephone operators from the Western Balkans and from the countries of the European Union have signed an agreement to reduce the differences between prices for mobile phone services inside and outside the country in both directions, the European Commission has announced. 

The voluntary agreement, signed by 38 operators from the EU and the Western Balkans, is expected to reduce costs for consumers traveling between the EU and the region by at least a third of current average prices. 

This is an agreement for which agreement was reached at the summit between the EU and the Western Balkans, held last December, in Tirana. 

As highlighted in the EC announcement, the price reduction promotes and simplifies business, cultural, tourism and other exchanges between the EU and the Western Balkans, strengthening ties between neighbouring regions. 

"Operators are currently working to create products with lower prices than those agreed upon, which will be available for purchase by the largest possible number of consumers," the announcement states. 

The signing of the agreement to reduce roaming prices was welcomed by the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi. 

"This voluntary agreement will make things predictable, help eliminate surprises on consumer bills and enable significant reductions in roaming costs for consumers from the EU and the Western Balkans," the commissioner said.

This process is also supported by the Council for Regional Cooperation, and by the European Commission. The EC has also invited other telephone operators from the EU and the region to join the initiative. 

From July 1, 2021, the Western Balkans region is an area where roaming charges do not apply. Visitors pay for calls, SMS messages and internet access at the same price as in their country, if they are located in the territory of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia. 

The agreement on roaming between the countries of the Western Balkans was signed in April 2019, after which the prices of phone calls were reduced by around 27 percent from July of that year, and paved the way for the complete abolition of roaming charges from July 2021.