Swiss Post is set to lose its mail monopoly one year after a new postal law comes into force. Thelaw has now been approved by the Swiss Parliament’s upper house but unions are threatening to
organise a citizens’ referendum to stop it.Proposed by the Federal Council (the Swiss government), the new postal law was approved with21 against 10 votes after a five-hour debate in the Council of States (upper house) on Tuesday(December 1). Moritz Leuenberger, the head of the Federal Council, stressed that the reform speedwill not be too fast, however.
During the debate, left-wing parties and representatives of peripheral regions warned aboutthe closure of a further 900 post offices and a threat to public services. However, supporters ofpostal liberalisation claimed that the basic services in the peripheral regions would not sufferfrom more competition while Swiss Post would have the chance to position itself on theinternational market.
The new postal law has now been passed over to the National Council (the lower house).However, Swiss citizens have been given the opportunity to organise a referendum if necessary onthe postal reform, and unions have already threatened with a referendum if the National Councilapproves the law in its present form. This means it is still unclear if and when the new postal lawwill enter force.
Letters weighing less than 50 grams can be sent only via Swiss Post at present. But after thepostal monopoly is eliminated, private operators will also be able to compete with Swiss Post inthis market segment. The Federal Council aims at total postal liberalisation which would lead toSwiss Post losing its monopoly while still providing the universal postal service across the wholeof Switzerland.
In response to the approval of the revised Postal Act by the Council of States, Swiss Postsaid it was acceptable if certain adjustments are made. For example, the financing mechanism forthe universal service proposed by the Council would be a unilateral burden for Swiss Post.Alternatively, Swiss Post seeks a balance between a high-quality, nationwide basic service and thepossibility of ensuring it in an efficient and economically viable way. A solution would be acreation of a compensation fund to finance the basic services, the state-owned organisation said ina statement.
Swiss Post said it would accept the new law on condition that its future development andscope of action are not limited after the opening of the postal market. This is even more relevantat a time when the postal market is shrinking and the basic service is becoming less profitablewith future competitors emerging on the market, it commented. In terms of the total postalliberalisation, Swiss Post prefers a transition period of three years after the law enters force.
In principle, it does not object to the market opening if competition is regulated throughaccompanying measures, especially employment conditions on the entire postal market. These can beensured through an industry-wide collective employment contract (CEC), which Swiss Post intends tooffer as a socially responsible employer. Therefore, it would also expect its legal status to beadapted to the private sector in the Postal Organisation Act by transforming Swiss Post Group intoa public limited company and PostFinance into a public company under private law.
