The European Commission wants to let Ukraine into the EU’s roaming area — where people can use their phones abroad without extra charges — in 2026, it said on Tuesday.

“We want Ukrainian citizens to stay connected to their loved ones across the EU, as well as in their home country,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “That’s why we propose that Ukraine join our roaming family.”

Kyiv informed Brussels on June 6 that it has completed the multi-year process of aligning its legislation with EU roaming rules. The European Commission is now formally submitting the proposal to national governments in the Council for approval.

“Ukraine has worked very hard to align its legislation to the EU roaming rules,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said earlier this month. It’s a “historic moment,” she added, as it would be the first time the EU includes a third country in that regime.

The European Commission said Tuesday that roaming was “the first area where the EU would extend internal market treatment to Ukraine.”

Ukrainians in Europe already benefit from free or very low-cost mobile communications and data when roaming, thanks to voluntary agreements between EU and Ukrainian telecom operators that were agreed in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

That industry partnership is now extended until the end of the year, the EU executive added.