Tag: Europe

EU delays Postal Service shakeup

Posted by | Jun 11, 2007 | |

Rather than stick to a 2009 deadline to open postal markets, the EU will likely O.K. different dates for different countries

The new emerging timetable looks likely to list different dates for different countries, with the latest deadlines mooted between 2012 and 2013, according to observers.

The EU started out on the road to opening up the 90 billion postal sector 15 years ago and the current proposal would finalise the process, meaning that national postal operators would lose their monopoly over the distribution of any type of mail, including letters weighing less than 50 grammes.

Britain and Sweden have already completed the liberalisation of their postal markets while Germany, the Netherlands and Finland are en route to doing so – with their ministers favouring the Brussels plan.

But in countries where a public company still has a full or partial monopoly to deliver these services – such as France’s La Poste or Italy’s Poste Italiane, the liberalisation move could lead to considerable job losses.

Some new member states such as Poland also expressed concerns that their postal services are not yet prepared for such a step forward.

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DHL launches diplomatic service

Posted by | Jun 11, 2007 | |

DHL has launched a new service for confidential, high security shipments especially designed for the needs of diplomats in over 220 countries and overseas territories.

The DHL Diplomatic service, which carries message “Diplomatic Service: Do Not Open”, is reserved for state departments and international organizations whose urgent expeditions are exempt from customs procedures.

“This is a globally harmonized offer available anywhere in the world and allows the sending of all kinds of parcels from an envelope of a few grammes to the 250kg pallet. The shipments benefit from a priority and specific treatment by DHL’s teams and the journeys can be followed in real time,” the company said in a statement.

Those items under 25kg are transported in a recognizable diplomatic bag and those over 25kg are wrapped in black so that they can be identified immediately by staff. The items can only be opened in the presence of a diplomatic agent.

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MPs condemn Royal Mail’s lack of vision over post offices

Posted by | Jun 9, 2007 | |

MPs condemned Royal Mail for lacking imagination and entrepreneurial flair in the way in which it manages its loss-making post office network.

The Trade and Industry Select Committee criticised the Government for not taking more responsibility for looking after the network rather than leaving it to Royal Mail.

It said that the postal group had “failed to show sufficient imagination or entrepreneurial flair in developing services so far, or properly to understand the realities of managing a network of often very small businesses”.

The criticism comes as 2,500 more post offices are about to close because the network is unprofitable. The programme of closures was agreed by the Department of Trade and Industry ahead of a GBP 3.9 billion rescue package for the postal group.

Although the all-party group of MPs said that new management at Royal Mail’s post office division “seems to be awakening from its lethargy”, they added: “We think that the Government, as sole shareholder and representative of the taxpayer, has a responsibility to ensure that Royal Mail Group as a whole gives proper attention to increasing the competitiveness of the network rather than just managing its decline.”

The committee said that there could be more closures “sooner rather than later” unless the Government gave proper attention to maintaining the network after its restructuring.

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Postal workers have voted to hold their first nationwide strike in more than a decade.

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) yesterday voted almost four to one in favour of industrial action over pay.

The Royal Mail has offered a 2.5% pay rise, while the CWU is holding out for a 4.8% increase.

A series of walkouts will now be held by up to 130,000 CWU members unless a compromise is reached.

CWU deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “This yes vote shows clearly that Royal Mail workers have rejected the company’s business plan, the company’s leadership and the unacceptable pay offer.

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France's Mondial Relay joins Hermes' European parcel network

Posted by | Jun 8, 2007 | |

German parcels company, Hermes Logistik, has further strengthened its growing European network by forming a partnership with France’s Mondial Relay for deliveries and collections in France, Germany and Austria.

Home delivery specialist Mondial, like Hermes a subsidiary of Europe’s largest mail-order business, the Otto Group, says it will also be expanding its consumer service through Relai pick-up points in four new countries – Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain – and hopes to have opened over 20,000 such points in the seven countries (including France) by the end of this year.

The expansion will see Mondial’s parcels volumes grow by about 20% in two years from the 34 million handled in 2006, the company said in a release.

According to an article in the Handelsblatt newspaper this week, Otto is working towards a single brand European B2C parcels network led by Hermes, with the aim of boosting the German subsidiary’s turnover to between EUR 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion from the current EUR 1 billion.

The network is designed to cash in on the Internet home delivery boom in major markets such as Germany, France and the UK. Parcelnet, the UK home delivery company owned by the Otto Group, announced two months ago that it also was expanding by buying the Redcats courier network in the UK.

Hermes, which grew by 11.5% in 2006, is moving into the Austrian market this summer. It now has 13,500 distribution points in Germany and a further 1,200 lined up for Austria.

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