Press and La Poste sign new four-year agreement
La Poste, the French national postal operator, and representatives from the country’s press companies yesterday signed a new four-year contract following 18 months of negotiations under the aegis of the state. For the state, the objectives of the agreement are to assure the equality of all publications and readers in postal distribution, as well as press plurality. For the press, the objectives are the provision of a quality delivery service to customers and a reasonably-priced subscription service. La Poste must prepare for the complete deregulation of the postal market in 2009.
The postal operator will increase tariffs with effect from 1 January 2005. Gradually, in the course of the coming four years, the tariff for urgent deliveries, most extensively used by press publishers, is to increase by a total of 20 per cent. Non-urgent press deliveries will see the tariff increased by 10 per cent in the course of 20 years. The publications ‘La Croix’, ‘France Soir’ and ‘L’Humanite’, which have low advertising resources, will see tariff increases limited to an annual 1 per cent, excluding inflation. The postal operator also intends to compensate publishers for delays to delivery, in return for the increase in charges. The state is also to provide aid to press publishers, totalling 242m euros annually, to alleviate the effects of higher delivery costs.
