Tag: France

De Post/La Poste invests in new sorting network

Posted by | Oct 5, 2006 | |

De Post/La Poste has restructured and modernised its network of sorting centres in an investment programme totalling close to EUR 250 million (USD 317 m).

The first two of four new centres have opened in Ghent and Charleroi, to be followed in the next few months by centres in Antwerp and Liège. The existing Brussels X centre is due to be completely modernised.

New sorting equipment installed at the sorting centres will provide better address recognition and improved quality of service, says De Post/La Poste. Direct mail, accounting for 700 million items a year, will be delivered the second day after posting (J+2) instead of the current four days.

De Post/La Poste said the new sorting infrastructure would progressively handle all mail to improve cost-effectiveness and competitiveness.

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EU tells France to withdraw unlimited guarantee from La Poste

Posted by | Oct 4, 2006 | |

The EU told France on Wednesday to end the unlimited guarantee it gives the country’s post office La Poste that allows it to borrow money on better terms than rivals.

The European Commission said La Poste’s special status as a publicly owned company meant it was exempt from ordinary bankruptcy and insolvency procedures and the state could ultimately be held liable for its debts.

“This situation is tantamount to a state guarantee that is unlimited in amount and in duration and covering all of the liabilities of La Poste,” it said.

“The fact that the guarantee is unlimited allows La Poste to obtain finance on more favorable terms, giving it an advantage over its competitors and thus distorting competition on a market which is in the process of being liberalized.”

EU regulators recommended that France withdraw the unlimited guarantee by the end of 2008 and gave Paris one month to respond.

The Commission said it was not calling into question La Poste’s position governed by public law or its public ownership.

Following a similar EU demand, France withdrew an unlimited guarantee in December 2003 that had been granted to Electricite de France SA.

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EU to open up postal market from 2009

Posted by | Sep 29, 2006 | |

Europe’s market for postal services will be thrown open to unfettered competition from 2009, according to proposals to be presented by the European Commission as early as next month.

Brussels is keen to sweep away the last remnants of an era in which postal services were dominated by state-owned monopolies, and complete the market’s transformation into a competitive service sector. The Commission also hopes that full postal liberalisation will lead to lower costs for consumers and businesses.

However, the plan could face severe resistance from trade unions worried about job losses, and member states such as France, which are traditionally keen to defend public services against private-sector competition.

The European Union postal services sector is estimated to be worth more than euro90bn (GBP61bn) a year, and employs some 5m people. The market has already seen deep changes in recent years, not least thanks to a landmark EU law from 1997 that allowed competition in an ever-growing number of postal services.

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New parcel processing system in La Poste

Posted by | Sep 18, 2006 | |

French national post office La Poste will invest some 25 mln euro (USD31.7 mln) in a new parcel processing system in the Loir-et-Cher region in north-central France, it was reported on September 15, 2006.
The platform, which will be operational in April 2007 will employ about 220 people. It will cover an area of 26,000 sq m and will process about 200,000 parcels a day.
The company also reminded that it had invested some 80 mln euro (USD101.3 mln) in the renovation of its logistics and mail delivery services in that region in the course of 2005 and 2006.

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