Verdi calls for extenstion of Deutsche Post monopoly

German trade union Ver.di has called for an extension of the monopoly held by Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, on the market for the delivery of letters in Germany. According to the current laws, Deutsche Post will have a monopoly on the market for letters weighing less than 100g until the beginning of 2006; after this, the maximum weight will be reduced to 50g until the monopoly comes to a complete end in 2008. Ver.di says that other countries such as France are not planning to liberalise their postal markets, and that, unless all countries in Europe can harmonise the liberalisation of their markets, the German market should not be opened up.