EU Roaming 2026: What Changed, and When a Travel eSIM Still Wins
4 min read
Plenty of articles this year promise new EU roaming rules for 2026. I went through the primary sources instead, the regulation and the Commission's own pages, and found two confirmed changes dated 1 January 2026. Two. Everything else doing the rounds is a proposal, a negotiation, or badly dated.
On a German contract that means very little day to day. "Roam like at home" works the way it did last year. The interesting part is where the EU rule stops.
Two EU roaming changes, both in force since 1 January 2026
The wholesale cap for data roaming fell to €1.10 per gigabyte. Another step along the schedule set by the EU Roaming Regulation (EU) 2022/612, which lands at €1.00/GB in 2027 and stays frozen until 30 June 2032. That's a price operators pay each other. Not you. Your bill never sees it.
The second change you'd actually notice. Since 1 January 2026, "roam like at home" covers Ukraine and Moldova too, per the European Commission. Travel there and the roaming surcharges are gone. Whether your provider has switched it on is worth a check in your tariff overview.
The big 2026 reform? There isn't one
The Digital Networks Act was tabled on 21 January 2026 and is still working through the legislative process. Not law. The Commission's own page for it names no roaming price caps, even though search results keep selling it as an "EU roaming reform".
Same story in the Western Balkans. The Commission opened negotiations on roaming integration in February 2026. Negotiations. No date, no decision.
Where the EU roaming rule stops, the eSIM starts
The UK, Switzerland and Turkey sit legally outside the EU and the EEA, so the Roaming Regulation doesn't reach them. If your provider bills them at EU rates anyway, that's goodwill, not a right.
Goodwill comes with an expiry date. o2 bills Great Britain at EU conditions only until 31.12.2026, "Verlängerung vorbehalten", subject to extension. Vodafone calls Great Britain, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Ukraine "voluntary territories" it can adjust, and leaves Switzerland and Turkey out of its EU roaming zone.
Then there's the fair use policy. Article 5 of the regulation and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2286 let providers cap the free roaming data allowance and treat a long home-versus-abroad imbalance as permanent roaming.
That's the honest argument for a travel eSIM. Its coverage is what you buy, not a goodwill rule somebody else can drop. eSIM FOX lists 38 countries for its Europe plan, Great Britain and Switzerland included, with 7 and 30 day packages from 1 to 50 GB, from €0.99/GB. Provider's figures, August 2026.
Outside Europe the maths gets simpler still, as our eSIM comparison for Thailand shows.
Affiliate link. Buying through it earns us a commission; the price stays the same for you.
The verdict
Travelling only inside the EU roaming zone in 2026? You don't need an eSIM. That's the honest answer, even from a site that recommends eSIMs. Add Great Britain, Switzerland or a longer stay, though, and you're leaning on a rule your provider can rewrite. Whether o2 extends past 2026, I don't know. Nobody does yet.
As of August 2026. Figures come from the linked primary sources and provider pages, not from our own testing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does EU roaming cost in 2026?
Nothing changes for you. Inside the EU you keep paying your domestic tariff rates. What fell on 1 January 2026 was the wholesale price between operators, from €1.30 to €1.10 per gigabyte.
Does EU roaming cover Ukraine and Moldova?
Yes, since 1 January 2026. Both countries are part of the "roam like at home" area according to the European Commission, so roaming surcharges no longer apply there.
Is Great Britain still part of EU roaming?
Legally, no. Great Britain sits outside the EU and the EEA, so the EU Roaming Regulation doesn't cover it. Several German providers bill it at EU conditions voluntarily anyway, though o2 says it does so only until 31.12.2026, subject to extension.
