European parliament members have backed a plan to delay liberalisation of the EUR 90 billion smallletters market until 2011 instead of the 1 January 2009 date proposed by the European Commission.
The parliament’s transport committee voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favour of a two-year delayas being in the interests of the 27 member states.“It’s a fair compromise,” committee chairman Markus Ferber told journalists. The 2009deadline had been opposed by trade unions and left-wing politicians as being too soon for theemerging market. “It can show the council of EU states how to solve the problem,” Ferber said. EUtransport ministers already postponed a decision on postal liberalisation at their meeting earlierin June.
Parliament wants the date for full liberalisation put back to 31 December 2010. Countriessuch as Greece, because of its large number of islands, and new member states in Eastern Europewould be able to extend their domestic monopolies by a further two years to the start of 2013.
Under the proposal, states would be given until 1 Jan 2010 to notify the Commission about howthey would fund nationwide universal services, including minimum collection and deliveries of mail.
The Netherlands, anticipating liberalisation, has already passed a law opening the under 50gmarket to full competition at the beginning of next year and Germany is due to follow suit at thesame time. Countries that had already opened their domestic markets, including the UK and Sweden,would also be entitled to block competitors from “non-liberalised” countries, under the parliament’s proposal.
EU member states now have to agree with the Parliament’s proposal – in a procedure of “co-decision” – and the full plenary session of the parliament has to decide on the basis of thelobbying that will be carried out between now and the end of the year.
