A European Parliament committee voted on Thursday to cap mobile phone roaming charges within the European Union (EU).

Voting on a European Commission proposal, the Industry Committee set a single cap of 40 euro cents for all outgoing mobile phone roaming calls and a 15-euro cent cap for calls received.

It also decided that all existing and new customers should automatically be accorded this "Euro-tariff."

The committee approved the measures with 45 votes in favor, 3 against, and 1 abstention.

The whole house will vote on this legislation in May.

The European Commission, in its original proposal, had suggested a 30-cent cap on calls within a "visited" network -- for example by a German tourist in Italy calling an Italian number, a 44-cent cap for calls to a member state outside the visited network -- for example by a German tourist in Italy calling a Hungarian number, and a 15-cent cap for calls received.

The Industry Committee, however, chose not to distinguish between calls made within or outside the visited network, backing a single cap of 40 cents for all outgoing roaming calls and a 15-cent cap for calls received.

For wholesale charges -- those that host network operators levy on home operators for carrying roaming calls, the committee opted for a single cap of 23 cents per minute.

With the introduction of the caps, mobile phone roaming charges will be significantly lower than their current levels. The caps do not apply to data communications, however.

New tariffs may come into force as early as this summer, if the plenary session of the European Parliament can approve it in first reading. (1 euro equals 1.348 U.S. dollars.)