Brussels, 23/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - Once more, the European Commission intends to issue an exemption for the REIMS II agreement whose first exemption expires end 2001. The REIMS II agreement is the instrument through which certain public postal operators (PPO) jointly determine terminal dues (in other words, the remuneration that the PPO pay each other for the distribution of entering cross-border post). The agreement had been notified for the first time to the Commission in 1997, in order to enjoy an exemption to the competition rules (Article 81, paragraph 3). The Commission is proposing granting a further exemption to the agreement, which was notified to it on 18 June 2001, and has just published a Communication in the Official Journal in order to gather opinions from those concerned (OJ C94 on 23 April). In one month, it will issue its final decision. The Commission noted that the REIMS II agreement had contributed towards improving the quality of cross-border post between the operators participating in the agreement, to the benefit of consumers. Thus, it is favourable towards an extension of the exemption for a limited period, but formally requests that the operators distribute post from third party operators at the same terminal due and under the same conditions, in accordance with the provisions of the Directive dated 1 January 2003 on the liberalisation of the European postal markets. In fact, the Commission feels that the remuneration system would lead to price discrimination in favour of parties to the agreement and to the detriment of other operators who carry cross-border post between two REIMS II countries. The Commission also called upon the parties to introduce other modifications, namely to lower the levels of terminal dues and to foresee the distribution of international mail at reasonable prices. Thirteen public postal operators signed the initial agreement, entering into force on 1 October 1998. Four other operators have since joined and the 17 parties of the present agreement include the operators from all the member states (with the exception of the Netherlands, as well as those of Norway, Iceland and Switzerland).