Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, in a written answer on 30 June 2026, signalled that the European Commission is considering harmonised EU rules on SIM card registration and data retention to close security gaps exploited by criminals and saboteurs. The answer, responding to a parliamentary question from five MEPs including Assita Kanko (ECR) and Malik Azmani (Renew), acknowledged that SIM cards are used for drone navigation, smuggling balloons, disinformation, and scams, and that inconsistent national rules allow abuse across borders due to fee-free roaming.
Virkkunen noted that Member States currently have discretion to impose registration requirements for pre-paid SIM cards, subject to EU data protection rules. The Commission is conducting an impact assessment on a possible harmonised EU framework for retaining non-content data for criminal justice purposes. Separately, the proposed Digital Networks Act would task the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) with issuing guidelines to protect end-users from fraud, with national authorities required to take those guidelines into utmost account. The Commission could adopt delegated acts to strengthen those measures.
Virkkunen also pointed to the ProtectEU Internal Security Strategy of April 2025, and announced that the Commission plans to publish an Action Plan to counter digital fraud before the end of 2026, taking a comprehensive, cross-sectoral approach. The answer contained no specific legislative timeline or numerical targets, but the impact assessment and planned action point toward concrete EU-level action in the coming months.
The response will affect telecom operators, who may face new compliance costs for registration and data retention, and national authorities, which would have to align rules with any future EU framework. Consumers could benefit from reduced fraud, while criminals would face tighter controls. The Commission's move balances security needs with data protection obligations, a tension that will likely shape the forthcoming legislative proposals.