PostEurop weighs up impact of EU enlargement on Postal Services
Enlargement will mean significant change for the postal sector in the ten countries entering the EU on 1 May. To appraise the challenges involved, and to describe what some posts are already doing to adapt to the changes, La Poste (France), together with La Poste/De Post (Belgium) and PostEurop staged a two-day seminar for high-level representatives from the post offices of the ten accession countries. The seminar was one of the actions being taken by PostEurop under Target 5 of its Accord II, an agreement that facilitates collaborative action between postal services in accession countries and in Western Europe as they adapt to EU requirements.
The conference also served as a reminder for postal services of what PostEurop can offer them. As Secretary-General Marc Pouw noted in his closing remarks, “knowing what the issues are is not enough. Postal services need to act, and PostEurop is here to support you”. Ever since the first Postal Services Directive was adopted in late 1997, PostEurop has been committed to helping postal services in the accession countries adapt to the new regulatory and legal environment in the EU.
In its press release, PostEurop explained how the seminar concentrated on the various regulatory issues that postal services in the new Member States will face upon entry into the European Union. Delegates learned more about the role of regulators in the European postal market, and how to work effectively with them to ensure that postal operators’ concerns are taken on board when decisions are taken. Several operators had the opportunity to present their views on regulation and describe how it is impacting on them, while representatives from the European Commission gave seminar participants first-hand information on key issues such as VAT.
