Signature of public service agreement 2008-2012 between French state and La Poste
La Poste has signed a public service contract with the French government for the time period 2008-2012 confirming the company’s commitment towards four basic service areas and preparing it for total postal liberalisation in 2011.
The contract, signed by La Poste President Jean-Paul Bailly and the Minister for Economic Affairs Christine Lagarde among others, follows the announcement of possible future partial privatisation of La Poste in 2009 with the government remaining the majority shareholder of the company.
With the new agreement, the public postal operator expects to calm the French unions regarding the modification of the company’s legal structure as they have always strongly opposed opening up La Poste to private investors.
The four main service areas stipulated in the agreement include postal services, transportation and distribution of press, accessibility of banking services for as many clients as possible and nationwide coverage of postal service points.
The postal services mentioned in the contract comprise distribution and delivery of mail 6 days a week with the same tariffs all over France. In addition, the new deal defines some targets for the group such as distributing 83 pct all letters the next-day in 2008. The quantity should rise to 84 pct in 2009 and 85 pct in 2010.
The accessibility of banking services means that every customer has the right to open an account at the postal bank of the company, disregarding the financial resources of the customer.
Nationwide coverage of postal service points guarantees the accessibility of La Poste service points all over France, even in the remotest regions of the country maintaining 17.000 service points nationwide. According to the corresponding law, La Poste has to guarantee that no more than 10 pct of the population in any French department will be more than 5 km away, or at more than 20 minutes distance by car, from a post office.
French trade unions are already preoccupied with the uncertainty around the financing of the plan since neither the cost of the postal distribution service nor the method of financing has been outlined in the contract.
La Poste has signed a public service contract with the French government for the time period 2008-2012 confirming the company’s commitment towards four basic service areas and preparing it for total postal liberalisation in 2011.
The contract, signed by La Poste president Jean-Paul Bailly and the Minister for Economic Affairs Christine Lagarde among others, follows the announcement of possible future partial privatisation of La Poste in 2009 with the government remaining the majority shareholder of the company.
With the new agreement, the public postal operator expects to calm the French unions regarding the modification of the company’s legal structure as they have always strongly opposed opening up La Poste to private investors.
The four main service areas stipulated in the agreement include postal services, transportation and distribution of press, accessibility of banking services for as many clients as possible and nationwide coverage of postal service points.
The postal services mentioned in the contract comprise distribution and delivery of mail 6 days a week with the same tariffs all over France. In addition, the new deal defines some targets for the group such as distributing 83 pct all letters the next-day in 2008. The quantity should rise to 84 pct in 2009 and 85 pct in 2010.
The accessibility of banking services means that every customer has the right to open an account at the postal bank of the company, disregarding the financial resources of the customer.
Nationwide coverage of postal service points guarantees the accessibility of La Poste service points all over France, even in the remotest regions of the country maintaining 17.000 service points nationwide. According to the corresponding law, La Poste has to guarantee that no more than 10 pct of the population in any French department will be more than 5 km away, or at more than 20 minutes distance by car, from a post office.
French trade unions are already preoccupied with the uncertainty around the financing of the plan since neither the cost of the postal distribution service nor the method of financing has been outlined in the contract.
The union Sud-PTT expressed its disappointment after the contract was signed saying that it would “pave the way for privatisation of the public operator”.
“We would have expected further details about the scope of the responsibilities regarding the public service and its financing which is controversial”, the union commented in a press release adding that a meeting with other unions is planned for 2 September to decide on first possible strikes of postal workers. Sud-PTT expects the strikes to go beyond the company’s borders considering a meeting between union, political parties and associations.
