Postal Market liberalised in 2011

Member states have reached a compromise deal to liberalise postal services in the EU by 2011, following more than 20 years of Commission-led negotiations to open up the sector.

The deal includes the following main elements:

1) Full postal liberalisation by 2011 (instead of the Commission’s preferred date of 2009), including for letters under 50 grammes;
2) The possibility of delaying opening markets until 2013 for Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia;
3) Under a so-called reciprocity clause, member states that open their markets by 2011 can deny market access until 2013 to those member states that choose to delay liberalisation;
4) Minimum pay provisions and postal workers’ right to strike will not be affected by the law;
5) Universal Service Obligation (USO) – member states can dictate uniform tariffs between rural and urban areas, sufficient access to post offices and minimum delivery requirements.

Financing provisions for USO will be decided by member states, who can either fund the service with monies from state coffers or oblige operators to pay into a common fund. The Commission, which reserves the right to scrutinise the financing plans, will be required to help member states to calculate the cost of universal services.

The UK, Swedish and Finnish postal market have been opened entirely already. The German market will be opened by 1 January 2008. The German government has indicated several times to stick to that date.

Overall in the EU, postal services are estimated to handle 135 billion items per year, reflecting a turnover of about € 88 billion or about 1% of the EU Gross Domestic Product (GDP). About two-thirds of this turnover is generated by mail services. The reminder is generated by parcels and express services which are already in the competitive area (i.e., the market is fully open to competing operators).