Brussels, 20/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - During the meeting of member states' ambassadors with the European Union (Coreper), the Portuguese EU Council presidency noted the “spirit of compromise” that reigned between delegations for reaching a political agreement on the proposal for a directive on completing the internal market for postal services during the Telecommunications Council, to be held on 1 October in Luxembourg (see EUROPE 9505). All observers consider that, unless things change at the last minute, discussions are “on the right road”. On 1 October, ministers will discuss the dossier first of all during a lunch and then in public deliberation. If the Council reaches a political agreement within ten days, it may adopt its common position in November and forward it to the European Parliament in December. The latter would then be able to begin its second reading in early 2008 for adoption of an opinion by about March. The compromise text discussed in Council and the EP's opinion at first reading are relatively close (see EUROPE 9495 and 9466), and final adoption of the directive in second reading therefore seems possible.
Coreper did not discuss the timetable for liberalising the last area reserved for a traditional public operator, namely the handling of mail weighing less than 50 grams. This question, of a highly political nature, should be resolved by the relevant ministers. The same thing is true for the list of member states calling for further postponement of postal liberalisation and the reciprocity clause that would allow countries having already definitively opened up their market to refuse access to their market by postal operators of another member state that still holds a monopoly. We would point out that the Portuguese EU presidency has taken up the EP's opinion on two-stage postal liberalisation: - end 2010 at the latest for all member states, or end 2012 for countries that make the request six months at most after adoption of the directive. The criteria set out by MEPs to determine which member states may benefit from an additional transitional period (access to the EU after 2004, small population and surface area, difficult topographical situation with a large number of islands) remain in the compromise text but no longer appear in the body of the directive.
Other subjects to be discussed by the ministers include that of bringing express delivery services within the area of Universal Postal Service (UPS). The characteristics of these services are “very specific”, one expert said, such as the possibility of defining “guaranteed delivery times” or establishing the traceability of goods despatched. Given constant technological developments, some characteristics of these services are increasingly incorporated in UPS services. Italy is sticking to its position that it is necessary to have a more flexible formula than that set out by the Portuguese presidency in order to avoid new market entrants from being too easily excluded from UPS obligations. Germany gave a blunt refusal to this. It should be noted, moreover, that the United Kingdom has reservations about member states being able to demand compliance with social and labour norms as a condition for granting postal operator licenses.
The Portuguese EU presidency suggests that an annex on calculating the net cost of the universal service based on European telecommunication rules should be included in the proposal for a directive. The Commission would provide assistance to the member states in this field without fixing any real guidelines. Expressing reticence, it considers it has exclusive prerogative to decide whether to help member states implement the directive and therefore refuses a legal clause compelling it to do so. In its opinion, the EP goes further than the compromise set out by the Portuguese EU presidency. MEPs call upon the Commission to provide guidelines, by 1 January 2009, on calculating the net cost of UPS and upon member states to notify to the Commission their national UPS financing plans by 1 January 2010. (mb)