Brussels, 28/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - Two different visions of the future of the EU's postal services are emerging - nine national postal service providers are calling on the European Commission to be cautious in its 2009 reform of postal services, and four other national postal service providers calling for full liberalisation of postal services. On 28 July, a spokesperson for EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, said that before the end of the year (probably in November), the European Commission would be unveiling a report on implementation of the postal directive (2002/39/EC), which would reveal whether the European Commission would be working towards full liberalisation of post offices in 2009. The battle lines are being drawn up at the same time as the European Commission has published two reports - one (by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, PWC) on the impact of creating a single postal market in 2009 on the provision of universal service, and the other on major developments in the post services from 2004 to 2006. Both reports recommend keeping the current timetable for full liberalisation of postal services.
Post operators in Belgium, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg and Poland have expressed 'concern about the study outcomes and urge the European Commission to take a balanced approach when drawing up future postal legislation.' They explain that the PWC study recommends measures but 'no proof is given of their efficiency or the fact that they will allow the objectives to be met'. The recommended efficiency measures include cutting the number of post offices and aligning labour costs of the incumbent operator with those of competitors. They explain that the PWC study 'gives no clear answer as to the economic impact of a reduction in the scope of universal service… (in order to reduce its cost and to increase prices for small users) … in particular for small and medium-sized companies, nor does it address the social and societal impact. Finally, the study does not meet the explicit request by the European Parliament in February 2006 to determine appropriate funding of universal service' (see EUROPE 9124).
In a press release, the incumbent postal services of Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden explain that 'looking ahead, the 2009 deadline for the completion of the Internal Market for postal services… seems fair and reasonable. Liberalisation provides the unique opportunity to establish a modern universal service that better reflects the communications requirements of today's economy and protects the consumer while fully reaping the benefits that a competitive market can offer in terms of choice, innovation and efficiency.' They argue that the guiding question should be 'who is in need of particular protection by a universal service regulation. A modern universal service regulation should protect consumers and smaller business customers, where a risk remains that the market alone will not deliver services as required.' This group of countries' operators add: 'the definition of the universal service should specify the required service levels enabling sufficient flexibility in the way these services are provided.' They explain that 'a key question arising from liberalisation is how the universal service should be financed in the absence of a reserved area. If universal service providers are given sufficient flexibility to fulfil their obligation in a most efficient and innovative manner, then external financing of the universal service obligation may not even be needed. Should a universal service deficit nevertheless arise, funding should be provided in such a way that fair competition is respected and the market is not distorted. If funding is sought from the sector itself, all service providers that are active in the market concerned should be required to contribute to the financing of the deficit.'