Travellers in Europe are set to see the cost of calls and texts fall as the European Commission introduces limits on charges.

Under the new rules – which came into effect over the weekend – the maximum retail prices for roaming calls will fall from the current 39 cents to 35 cents per minute for calls made and from 15 cents to 11 cents per minute for calls received.

Travellers will continue to be protected from unexpected “bill shocks” for downloading data over mobile networks as monthly bills for data downloading are limited to €50 unless the customer explicitly agrees otherwise.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission vice president for the digital agenda said: “These new price caps will temporarily reduce retail prices for making and receiving voice calls when in another EU country during the coming year.

“But we have to tackle roaming problems at the root with a long lasting structural approach.

“The Commission will therefore be coming forward very shortly with comprehensive new proposals for long-term solutions to address the underlying problem of lack of competition in roaming markets.”

The new tariffs are the latest in an ongoing series of annual price reductions forced on the mobile industry, with the Brussels aiming to equalise roaming and domestic charges by 2015.