French finance minister faces post office questions
the French finance minister, Francis Mer, and his industry counterpart, Nicole Fontaine, will both appear before the French senate’s economic affairs commission today to answer questions about the future of the French post office (La Poste). Mr Mer is expected to be asked, among other things, about the possibility of expanding La Poste’s ranging of banking services, with the organisation acting as a distributor for the financial products of other companies. Observers point out that La Poste is obliged to become more efficient as it prepares for the liberalisation of the postal services market. Its public-service mission, they say, costs it at least 200m euros per year.
