The French parliament yesterday approved the draft postal law which will transform La Poste into alimited company as of 1 March 2010 and then open up the domestic mail market in January 2011.
French MPs voted in favour of the law with 307 against 206 votes following the approval bythe French Senate in November. MPs already approved the section to reform La Poste last week.
In the next legal stage, a government commission equally composed of seven senators and sevenMPs will meet in the beginning of January to elaborate a common text for the two houses ofparliament. The final vote by the senators and MPs is scheduled for 12 January 2010.
The draft postal law contains two parts. One part implements the European directive for fullpostal liberalisation in 2011 while the other deals with transforming La Poste into a limitedcompany. Under a subsequent €2.7 billion capital increase, designed to raise financing forstrategic growth, the French government would contribute €1.2 billion and the state-owned Caissedes Dépôts (CDC) a further €1.5 billion. La Poste’s current status as a public organisation (‘établissement public industriel et commercial’) has legally prevented such a capital increase.
French industry minister Christian Estrosi repeatedly told MPs that the draft law makes LaPoste “unprivatisable”, French media reported. He said the organisation was “in danger, confrontedwith the opening to competition and reduction in mail volumes due to the internet”. Thetransformation of La Poste into a limited company will especially allow the French government andthe state-owned Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) to contribute to a capital increase of €2.7 billion,Estrosi added.
Socialist MP François Brotte warned in response: “La Poste is the property of the Frenchpeople. We think that only the current status of a public institution can make La Posteunprivatisable and guarantee the missions of the public service.”
“The government passed a decisive stage in the breakdown of the public service in ourcountry,” commented Pierre Gosnat in the name of the left-wing party GDR (Gauche démocrate etrépublicaine). “Gradually, the state will reduce its capital share in this limited company,” hepredicted, referring to the situation of GDF (Gas of France). GDF was transformed into a limitedcompany in 2004 under Nicolas Sarkozy who was Minister of Economy at that time and promised that itwould not be privatised. However, a part of the state capital in the company was reduced to lessthan 50% during its consolidation with Suez in 2006.
“The adoption of this draft law is an ominous present for the postal workers and tens ofmillions of users, a regression of a public service that the citizens of this country are very muchattached to, as the citizens’ vote in the beginning of October showed,” Olivier Besancenot, postmanand spokesman of the anticapitalist party NPA, reacted in a press release.
Trying to prevent the reform, the opponents had organised a citizens’ vote between 27September and 3 October. This was organised by the ‘Comité national contre la privatisation de LaPoste’ (‘National committee against privatisation of La Poste’), including postal unions, left-wingpolitical parties and various social organisations. With 2.5 million persons participating in thevote, 90% of the participants voted against La Poste privatisation.
Last week, the French government postponed the restructuring of La Poste into a limitedcompany from the original date of January 1 to March 1, 2010, due to delays in parliamentary reviewof the draft postal law.
