Brussels, 18/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - "Today, the Commission gave its agreement for the launch of the last stage of the total opening-up to competition" of the postal sector, because "studies and experience show that the prospects are good for 2009", Charlie McCreevy told the press on Wednesday 18 October. The European Commissioner in charge of the Internal Market presented the principal measures contained within the proposed directive: "universal service will be guaranteed in all Member States", gone will be the "possibility for the Member States to grant exclusive rights" to an operator or to maintain "reserve zones" on their territory. This, he added, presupposes that the financial burden for the universal postal service, for which the Commission proposes an indicative list of options, will be shared out. Quoting the examples of the United Kingdom and Germany, the Commissioner stressed the benefits of competition for the modernisation of the postal sector in Europe: "this new openness to competition must be perceived as an opportunity rather than a threat". He went on to state that these proposals constitute "no great surprises", even for the new Member States, as the subject has been under discussion for "15 years" at European level.
This second revision of the postal directive focuses on the opening-up to competition of the last domain reserved for the traditional public monopolies, that of handling post weighing less than 50 g, since January 2006. Under the terms of the proposal, "as of 1 January 2009, the Member States may no longer grant or maintain any exclusive or special rights for the creation and provision of postal services". Nonetheless, they must continue to ensure that "the provision of the universal service is assured" and notify "the Commission of measures (...) taken to fulfil this obligation". The Member States remain entitled to appoint one or more companies as universal service provider(s), but this time, they may do so "for all or part of the national territory and for different elements" of the service. Under the first postal directive (97/67/EC), universal service provided for the collection and distribution of mail at home for all legal and physical persons, every working day, and not fewer than five days per week. The new proposal does not modify the level of requirement on this point.
In a completely liberalised market, how is the universal service to be financed? The Commission has drawn up a list of options which is "not exhaustive", declares Joerg Reinbothe, the head of the unit in charge of postal services of the Commission. For example, the Member States will be able to use procedures for the "allocation of public procurement contracts", "bring in a mechanism to compensate businesses involved by public funds" (granting State aid, in other words) or "share out the net cost of the universal service obligations among service providers and/or users".
For this last option, the proposed directive envisages the creation of a "compensation fund", which may be funded by "a fee levied on service providers and/or users and administrated by an independent body". It allows the Member States to "link the granting of authorisations to the service providers (...) to an obligation to make a financial contribution to this fund or to come into line with the obligations of universal service". This possibility, which was already included in the previous directive, has so far been used only in Italy, but the Commission expects that other Member States may also have recourse to it. The option of carrying out cross-subsidies- which would have allowed the same operator to transfer profits stemming from competitive activities into universal service activities- has been abandoned (see EUROPE 9282).
Will the single tariff remain in place? "This will not change for individual consumers", said Mr Reinbothe. It must guaranteed that even single tariffs remain affordable for consumers. Concerning the "bulk mail" sent by businesses, and which constitutes the vast majority of the market, he added, postal operators will, on the other hand, have the option to develop a more flexible tariff policy, but this is not an obligation.
Charlie McCreevy also indicated that the proposed directive will reinforce consumer protection measures, in order to guarantee greater transparency and efficient recourse mechanisms. This will also be the case concerning the role and independence of the national regulation authorities in charge of competition monitoring.
The Commissioner acknowledged that positions differ within the Member States. "I understand the concerns" of certain Member States, such as "Poland", he said, but this country was aware of the postal directives before it joined the EU. When asked about the risk that the proposed directive may be taken hostage in those Member States in which elections are soon to take place, he advised anyone who is not convinced by the full opening of this market to competition to go and see what is happening in "the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden", where competition is already total or is becoming so. "I hope that this legislation will not be taken hostage and delayed, because this would give a negative image. If we started to lag behind, this would be a clear indication that the Member States do not have open markets, and this would be a step backwards". He pointed out that the current postal directive contains a termination clause, whereby the legislative proposals expire on 31 December 2008.
The legislative proposal, which will be adopted under the co-decision procedure, has been transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council. Markus Ferber (EPP/ED, Germany), the author of the latest EP report on this dossier (see EUROPE 9124), welcomes the initiative of the Commission. "There is no alternative to the liberalisation of the postal market", he states in a press release, whilst expressing satisfaction that the universal service is to be kept in place. Michael Glos, German Minister for the economy, has already indicated that his country would attempt to conclude negotiations on the revision of the postal directive in the first half of 2007. "I am delighted that the German Presidency has made this dossier a priority", noted Mr McCreevy. In the EU, Finland and Sweden have completely opened up their postal sector to competition. United Kingdom joined them earlier this year, and Germany and the Netherlands are to do so in 2008. The four largest postal markets are to be found in Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. (mb)