By Chris Jones - 8th June 2007
EU ministers agreed on Thursday to delay plans to open up the postal sector to full competition from 1 January 2009 amid fierce opposition from several member states.
France has been one of the most vociferous opponents of the European commission’s plans to liberalise the market so quickly, arguing that there are insufficient guarantees in place to ensure a high-quality service.
A dozen other countries agreed with the French position at Thursday’s meeting of telecommunications ministers, forcing Germany, which holds the EU presidency until the end of the month, to accept a compromise agreement.
Berlin, which has agreed to open up the German postal market from 2008, wanted to reach an agreement on this dossier during its tenure, but had to be content with a staggered liberalisation.
Each country will now be allowed to open up the last remaining postal monopoly – for letters under 50g, by far the largest sector of the market – at its own pace.
Only the UK, Sweden and Finland have fully liberalised postal markets, although the Dutch will join Germany in opening their market next year.
France’s concerns were echoed by Belgium, Italy and Poland, among others, inflicting a defeat on the ambitious plans of internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy, who had criticised member states over their delays in completing liberalisation.
One of France’s main concerns was the potential threat posed by liberalisation to the so-called universal service requirement.
Postal operators across Europe are required to meet minimum standards – assuring at least one delivery and collection each working day, at an affordable price – and most member states had made this requirement part of the criteria for granting a monopoly on certain sectors of the market.
They fear that when these monopolies are scrapped – and with them the requirement to provide a universal service – operators will choose to focus on segments that are the most profitable, such as business mail.
They fear that individuals living in remote rural areas in particular will be overlooked by companies looking for the biggest profits.
McCreevy has stressed that there are a number of options on the table for guaranteeing the financing of the universal service – including state aid – but many countries want clearer information about what precisely will be allowed.
Germany’s finance minister Michael Glos put on a brave face despite the failure to agree on the 2009 deadline.
“Clear progress is discernable on the path towards the liberalisation of European postal services. No member state questions liberalisation as such,” he said.
“I am very confident that a positive decision will be taken in the near future. Unless such agreement is reached, the current directive will expire without replacement at the end of 2008; exclusive national rights by individual postal companies would then have to be justified vis-à-vis the European commission.”
“This will certainly spur on the member states concerned to reach a decision.”
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