Netherlands and European Commissioner in Standoff Over Mobile Rates

For a window into the fractious state of European federalism, consider the battle of wills taking place between Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for telecommunications, and the Netherlands over how much mobile phone operators can charge to connect calls on each other’s wireless networks.

On June 13, Mrs. Kroes told the Dutch telecommunications regulator, OPTA, that its proposed level for the fees, known as mobile termination rates, was twice as high as what policy makers in Brussels thought was justified. She ordered OPTA to cut the fees in half, citing the European Telecoms Framework that took effect in May 2011, which supposedly gave Brussels more control over fees set by national regulators. Two days later, OPTA gave Mrs. Kroes its response: Sorry, but no chance. OPTA explained that it had initially supported the commission’s goal of reducing Dutch mobile termination rates to 1.2 euro cents a minute from 2.7 cents, starting Sept. 1. But Dutch mobile operators had challenged those rates in court.