Brussels, 24/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 23 May, Ambassadors from EU member states tackled the question of liberalisation of the final area of the postal services still reserved for state monopolies, post weighing less than 50 grams. At this still too early stage, discussions will still not be able to produce an agreement at the meeting on 7 June in Luxembourg for ministers responsible for this remit. On this date, the German presidency will simply present a report to delegations on the progress made. A public debate will take place and will be continued at the ministers' dinner.
During a dinner organised by the “Free and Fair Post Initiative” in Strasbourg, Commissioner McCreevy, responsible for the internal market, against appealed on Wednesday 23 May for the 2009 to be respected for the total opening up of the postal sector to competition. “I hear a lot of speculation about the date…2009 is not going to bring the chaos and tragedy that some would like to make us believe. To the contrary, market opening in 2009 would introduce controlled and regulated competition that will bring new ideas, new business models and new services. It is not a question of dividing up the cake differently, it is a question of growing the cake so there is more to be had for everyone”. He reiterated his criticism of some founding member states - Belgium, France, Luxembourg - which were striving for a postponement of liberalisation in order to give more preparation time for countries that joined in 2004 (EUROPE 9427). He was pleased with the position of new member states such as Bulgaria, which was calling for opening up to competition in 2009. He added that, “We have proposed to stick to the date already agreed. Studies demonstrate this was appropriate. I am yet to hear a compelling reason why the date should be changed”. Among the parliamentary committees at the European Parliament, which have already voted for the opinion, only the internal market committee appealed for maintaining the Commission proposed calendar. The position in favour of total opening up of the postal sector to competition in 2009 is in the minority at the European Parliament (EUROPE 9428).
Commissioner McCreevy also rejected any new study called for by stakeholders who are not very convinced about the benefits of liberalisation bringing guarantees on funding of the universal postal services in a competitive environment, “I can not, however, take the call for more studies as serious. All dimensions of the matter have been studied at length. All studies point in the same direction, namely that open and competitive markets are the only viable option for the postal sector”. This is a reference to two external studies that the Commission published last summer that called for the calendar to be maintained (EUROPE 9242).
Following declarations from the Commissioner, the unions in the postal sector called for McCreevy to resign and accused him of, “failing to ensure funding for a universal postal service to citizens in his rush to de-regulate Europe's post”, indicated a UNI-Europe press release, the European branch of the European trade union. Bernadette Ségol regional secretary of Uni-Europa declared that, “Commissioner McCreevy should resign, essential services to the public need protection from neo-liberal dogma. European integration is for people and not just markets”. According to Ségol, “Removing protections will allow private operators to move in and cherry pick the profitable business in the cities and ignore those how live in more distant communities”. The union is planning two days of action to protest against the liberalisation of the postal sector, one in Berlin on 30 May and the other throughout the EU on 6 June.
According to the British press, in the United Kingdom where liberalisation of the post has existed since 2006, 2500 post offices, a fifth of the total number, are expected to be closed in 2009, as recently announced by Alexander Darling, British Secretary of State for trade and industry. (mb)