In December 2025, the European Commission took a significant step in addressing the risk that tourists may lose effective access to emergency services while travelling in other EU Member States.
In a response to a written Parliamentary Question from MEP Elena Kountoura (Left, EL), which noted that tourists risked losing full access to emergency services while roaming over 4G and 5G, the European Commission recognised that S8HR, the architecture used by mobile network operators for roaming over these networks, had limited functionalities in emergencies that could leave tourists unable to send their location to emergency services, or prevent emergency services from calling back the tourist if the call dropped or they needed additional information.
This issue is the result of a cost-saving measure in S8HR, which requires roaming devices to make anonymous calls to emergency services so that mobile network operators can avoid establishing roaming agreements to allow mobile devices to authenticate on each other’s networks.
Ms Kountoura also asked the European Commission if this development, which limits access to 112, was in line with EU law and what steps the European Commission would take to ensure all Europeans had full access to 112.
The European Commission responded that the European Electronic Communications Code and the EU’s Roaming Regulation require mobile network operators to provide access to 112 while roaming, regardless of the underlying technology used, and that standards should ensure seamless access to emergency services and caller location. To address the risks associated with S8HR, the European Commission undertook to contact national authorities and mobile network operators to find a solution.
While MEP Kountoura’s Question and the European Commission’s answer will not solve the issues people now face in an emergency while travelling in other EU Member States, the fact that this problem has been recognised by the European Commission, and that the EU has given its first undertaking to work for a solution, is a very positive step for public safety. EENA expresses its thanks to MEP Kountoura for raising this issue and will closely follow the European Commission’s work to resolve this and other issues connected to access to 112 over 4G and 5G in the coming months.