An open debate has broken out within the German coalition governmentover the planned full liberalisation of the domestic postal market next January. Senior SocialDemocrats say the market should not be opened up until other EU states allow competition, whileChristian Democrats want to keep to the liberalisation timescale.
Under existing German postal law, Deutsche Post’s exclusive licence fordomestic letters under 50g is due to expire on December 31, 2007. From January 1, 2008, thislargest and most profitable segment of the postal market will be fully open to competition, whichis expected to result in lost business for Deutsche Post. Any monopoly extension would require anew law. Meanwhile, the European Commission wants all EU postal markets fully liberalised in 2009,but this proposal has met with opposition from a dozen EU states, including France, Italy, Spainand Poland.
German finance minister Peer Steinbrück has now added his voice to thatof fellow Social Democrat and vice-chancellor Franz Müntefering by questioning the logic ofliberalising the German market ahead of other EU states. “That has nothing to do with myunderstanding of fair competition,” he told a Social Democratic party members’ meeting last week.Müntefering recently criticised low wages paid by private mail firms in Germany.
But economics minister Michael Glos told a conference in Munich today: “ A change in the law is not planned. We need open postal markets in all EU states. It is true forpostal markets as well: market opening leads to lower prices, greater choice and better quality.” Glos said he did not consider the much-repeated scenario of “aninvasion of foreign postal operators into the German market” as a realistic threat.
Meanwhile, private mail firms criticised the comments of financeminister Steinbrück. “This sudden change of mind by the finance minister is a slap in the face formedium- sized postal companies,” said Bernd Jäger, spokesman of the action group “Mehr Farbe imPostmarkt” (“More colour in the mail market”).
He rejected the minister’s claim that foreign postal operators fromFrance, Italy, Spain or Poland would enter the German postal market and noted that Deutsche Postwas already present in liberalised markets such as the UK. It was rather medium-sized German firmsthat had invested in the postal sector, and created tens of thousands of jobs, Jäger stressed. Anextension of the postal monopoly would threaten these jobs, he warned.
