Brussels, 22/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP) is calling for impact analysis to be completed before proposing new liberalisation measures for the postal sector in the European Union. The CEEP declared in a press release (EUROPE 9242) that the accompaniment measures proposed by Price WaterhouseCoopers consultants in its impact study on complete liberalisation of the postal sector in 2009 on universal service did not appear realistic or adapted to the sector. These can be divided into three: improvements in efficiency and productivity by public postal operators gained by the complete opening up to competition, direct state aid payments in exceptional cases (even if the authors themselves consider that this scenario is not the right solution, notes CEEP); reduction in the field of application of universal service in an effort to reduce costs.
The CEEP also considers that no clear response has been provided on the future funding of the universal service in the event of total liberalisation of the European postal sector. However, it does warn that the stakes in terms of jobs and social and economic consequences resulting from universal service supply deficiencies should be at the heart of Community decision-makers' concerns. The CEEP also points out that the postal directive (2002/39/EC) refers to provisions in the European Treaty on the role of services of general economic interest in the promotion of social and territorial cohesion in the EU.