Chirac gets deal to safeguard universal post services

The commission wants to open postal markets to unrestricted competition, forcing E.U. nations to withdraw state support for national postal services.
Proposals put forward by the commission would have forced France to unwind its unlimited guarantee for all liabilities held by La Poste, which makes the company a low-risk borrower. The country’s 17,000 post offices would also have had to share the market with global mail carriers like TNT and Deutsche Post AG (DPW.XE), as well as express carriers like United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) and FedEx Corp. (FDX).
France was one of the fiercest critics of the reforms, arguing the moves would crush La Poste and threaten services in small towns. Competitors would cherry pick the most profitable businesses, such as city deliveries, and neglect rural regions, it said.
The commission’s current proposal calls for prying opening the E.U. postal market by 2009.
While the E.U. heads of state and government Friday gave general backing to the commission’s plan, they shied away from endorsing the 2009 timeframe and kept open a wide window for France to keep protecting La Poste’s monopoly.
The leaders called for “further liberalization of the postal markets, while ensuring the financing of an efficient universal service.”