Tag: Mail Services

Malta: CEPT reforms discussed

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea yesterday inaugurated a crucial Task Force meeting of the CEPT (European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations) which is currently discussing reforms within this organisation.

The CEPT is a body of policy-makers and regulators comprising 48 members from almost the entire geographical area of Europe. The scope of this meeting is to provide a platform for CEPT members, observers and other interested parties to discuss initiatives aimed at developing a strategic plan for the development of this organisation. Two other Task Force meetings were held in Berlin and Copenhagen.

The task force will then present its findings on how CEPT can remain relevant and successful by maintaining its strengths, by meeting the external challenges and by overcoming the weaknesses identified.

Among the strengths to be maintained are the quality of CEPT’s technical work, including the preparation of European common positions for the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU), and its work on the mandate of the European Union. This strength is based on the excellent technical expertise of the members and on CEPT’s methods of organising international cooperation of its broad membership from the whole European Region.

The meeting was chaired by Anthony Debono, who is the current president of the CEPT. Mr Debono will then present the final conclusions of this task force at the next CEPT general assembly scheduled for 5 and 6 June in Malta.

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EU bans postal monopolies from 2011

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

National monopolies for mail delivery in the European Union will be dismantled by 2011, with postal companies free to operate in any of the EU’s 27 countries – meaning the Royal Mail could face threats by European competitors on British soil.

Nine new EU countries plus Greece and Luxembourg will get the option of an additional two years to prepare for a full opening of the delivery of letters under 50 grams (1.75 ounces) – the last category where national postal companies face no rivals.

The plan was approved by the European Parliament last Thursday 31st January.

A universal public service ensuring every European gets at least one delivery and collection a day, five days a week will still be guaranteed and can be subsidized by governments if it loses money.

Postal services in the European Union handle an estimated 135 billion items a year, with an estimated turnover of 88 billion Euros (GBP 65billion) – around 1 per cent of the union’s gross domestic product. The sector employs more than 5 million people.

Full liberalization should lead to cheaper and more reliable mail deliveries, according to EU officials.

It could also force the Royal Mail to scramble to remain competitive against European services moving to Britain – and raises the possibility of a Royal Mail service operating on the continent.

An organization representing customers and competitors of the public postal operators across the EU called on the national regulators to prevent national monopolies from unfair tactics.

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Postal services: Commission welcomes the adoption of the EU Postal Directive

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

The European Parliament adopted the new Postal Directive last Thursday 31st January, giving its final political approval to EU postal reform. The vote confirms the broad political consensus on the way forward for opening EU postal markets to full competition. The Commission will assist Member States in implementing the new Directive and will take an active role in monitoring closely market developments to make sure that EU citizens and businesses obtain the benefits from high quality postal services foreseen by the Directive.
The Commission had adopted its proposal only 15 month ago. The text voted today by the European Parliament reflects the overall political agreement between the institutions and maintains the key elements of the Commission’s initial proposal, in particular: the accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services via the abolition of the reserved area in all Member States; the confirmation of the scope and standard of universal service; reinforcement of consumers’ rights and upgrading of the role of national regulatory authorities; the offering of a list of measures Member States may take to safeguard and finance, where necessary, the universal service.

The final date for achieving full market opening is 31 December 2010, with the possibility for some Member States to postpone full market opening by two more years as a maximum and the inclusion of a temporary reciprocity clause applying to those Member States that make use of the latter transitional period. The new Directive is the final step in a long reform process that has already seen large areas of EU postal markets opened to competition, with very positive results.

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EU’s Postal Directive changes the requirements of national postal services

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

The postal directive approved on 31 January by the EU Parliament will open postal operations within the EU to full competition. The directive will become effective from the beginning of 2011, and in 2013 in some transitional-period countries. The new postal directive will guarantee nationwide mail delivery on five days of the week in the future. The tariffs of letter mail sent by consumers will also be uniform regardless of the locale.

Restrictions to competition were removed from Finnish legislation in the early 1990’s. Itella has been among the postal companies who have supported the EU-wide opening of the postal market.

According to Itella, the new directive now accepted may change the principles that have been held important in Finland concerning uniform services provided throughout the entire country. It has been the requirement of the Finnish Parliament to secure the provision of uniform postal services throughout Finland without separate funding systems.

In the new directive, a competing post company cannot be required to deliver mail five days per week, which has until now been required by law in Finland. In the future, such obligation can only apply to a company responsible for a general service obligation, i.e. Itella in Finland. Only a company operating in the largest cities, delivering letters from large sender companies, e.g. every other day, can price the delivery cheaper than the current rate. This means that the funding base for providing basic postal services may become significantly narrower.

It is possible that the directive will lead to regional segregation of prices, with mail sent to the largest cities being cheaper than that sent elsewhere. This has already happened in Sweden and in some other countries.

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Postal services liberalisation: MEPs back market opening by 2011

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

The European Parliament confirms that remaining postal service monopolies should expire by 2011 – or 2013 for some Member States. In a second reading deal with Council, the European Parliament sticks to the compromise already endorsed by the Council on the opening up of EU postal services to competition.

In its common position, the Council had incorporated all major elements of the European Parliament’s position at first reading. The European Parliament approved the common position without amendments.

Among the key points was the date for market opening: by 2011, two years later than the Commission had proposed, with the possibility for Member States which joined the EU after 2004 or with a difficult topography, such as Greece to postpone market opening by a further two years to 2013. The following Member States may postpone implementation until the end of 2012: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. For Luxembourg, the Council agreed with the European Parliament first-reading position which said that Member States that acceded to the EU after the entry into force of Directive 2002/39/EC or Member States with a small population and limited geographical size could postpone to 2013.

MEPs also agree with Council on the principle of reciprocity: in order to avoid market distortion and unfair competition, those Member States having opened their markets should be able to refuse authorisation to operators still protected by a national monopoly in another Member State.

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