Brussels, 10/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - “Our postal services are not just about economic bottom lines, but they are also a social service that needs to be supported”, argued Brian Simpson (S&D, UK) at the European Parliament on Thursday 9 September 2010 when he submitted an oral question to the EP transport committee on the liberalisation of postal services that will come into force on 1 January 2011 in 16 member states. He explained that MEPs were “suspicious” or “wary” that member states would be tempted to ignore the social provisions of the universal services directive and that the Commission would ignore this. We mustn't allow this to happen, he warned. Listing the benefits of the gradual liberalisation of postal services, Markus Ferber (EPP, Germany) said it was important to prevent any deterioration of postal workers' work conditions and to ensure their social welfare rights extended beyond 1 January 2011. In practice, postmen are already being replaced by lower-paid, part-time workers, explained Saïd El Khadraoui (S&D, Belgium). Speaking on behalf of the Greens, Belgium's Isabelle Durant said that the opening up of the postal market had led to a “concentration of private operators” although the objective that had been aimed at was to dismantle the old post offices (public monopolies). More critical, the French socialist delegation called for a moratorium on liberalisation of postal services and for the member states to carry out research to calculate the cost of universal service.
Who could argue that a sudden postponement of liberalising postal services would be a good idea, asked EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier. Not the Commission, he explained, for three reasons: 1) liberalisation is an important strategy to solve the crisis in which the postal industry finds itself; the “robust” regulations requiring national regulators to ensure that universal postal service obligations are properly implemented and funded; and postponing reform would create widespread legal uncertainty that would harm all stakeholders in the industry. Underlining his personal commitment to ensure the respect of public postal services, the commissioner said that the third EU postal directive (Directive 2008/6/EC) gave member sates considerable leeway to reconcile liberalisation with social demands. He announced the creation of a group of users (companies, ordinary citizens, trade unions and the EP) alongside the EU regulators' group that is currently being set up. In 2013, the Commission will publish an assessment of how the legislation has been implemented (M.B./transl.fl)