MEPs claim first round in postal battle as Monti delays plan

Date: 28/05/03

By Peter Chapman

COMPETITION Commissioner Mario Monti has put on hold controversial plans to shake-up EU postal operators.

The delay will last until the completion of a massive consultation on policing all 'services of general interest' ranging from railway networks to swimming pools.

European Voice revealed earlier this month that Monti's team had been planning to impose a new postal directive.

This was expected to be fast-tracked under Article 86 of the EU treaty, the so-called 'nuclear option' which allows the Commission to enact laws without bothering to consult the European Parliament and Council of Ministers.

The directive would be aimed at preventing postal operators from cross-subsidising those parts of their business open to full competition, suchas parcels, with profits from letters markets where they have a legal monopoly.

But Monti has told MEPs he is now awaiting the results of the consultation on the Green Paper on services of general interest, launched by the Commission with President Romano Prodi's backing last week.

Only then will he decide whether to launch a postal directive under the rarely-used Article 86 procedure.

The EU executive confirmed that it had been planning the new law following a series of complaints about abuse of dominant position in the postal sector.

But the project is now off the 2003 work programme pending the results of the Green Paper.

It added: "Whatever the result of this further analysis, should the Commission decide to go on with this [post directive] project, this evaluation will not result in the introduction of new, substantive obligations."

It added the aim was to impose more transparency requirements on the operators to enable the Commission to prevent anti-competitive practices.

MEPs dispute this benign interpretation, claiming the move could strike a massive blow to the ability of post offices to fund a 'universal service', including deliveries to remote rural areas.

At the same time, deputies are furious that Monti had plotted the move, described by some as "surreptitious", behind their backs.

French deputy Gilles Savary said the Parliament would be prepared to take the Commission to the European Court of Justice if it "stamped on Parliamentary democracy".

"This proposal, if it is adopted, will deal a severe blow to the equalized financing of the public service through the profitable activities of the postal operators - with neither the Council of Ministers nor the European Parliament having decided on it."

"One round is won," added Savary, "but the Parliament is more than ever in a state of legitimate mistrust with regard to the unfettered liberalism of certain members of the Commission."

The liberalisation of Europe's postal services has been put on hold until a consultation on all services of general interest has been completed.