Plans to open up postal services to competition across the EU by 2011 will be debated on 9 July, and put to a plenary vote on 10 July, in Strasbourg. MEPs may well endorse 31 December 2010 as the deadline for eliminating any remaining postal service monopolies. This deadline - a compromise agreed in the Transport Committee to give operators and regulators more time to adjust - is two years later than the European Commission had proposed (1 January 2009).


Full market opening should mean that national operators will no longer have a monopoly on mail weighing up to 50 grammes, know as the "reserved area". The two-year postponement was a compromise, backed by rapporteur Markus Ferber (EPP-ED, DE), to get the proposal through. Some MEPs had argued that in parts of the EU more time was needed to create a stable regulatory framework for ensuring that post continues to be delivered EU-wide at an affordable cost ("universal service") and to enable postal operators to adapt to new market conditions.

Although the Transport Committee agreed in principle with the Commission on the need to open up the postal services market, it nonetheless stressed that liberalisation must remain subject to strict conditions, including safeguards for universal service and rules on working conditions and collective bargaining.

Committee MEPs do not accept the Commission's contention that the two-year postponement could jeopardise the benefits of reforms already undertaken. Neither do they share its view that setting a deadline of 31 December 2010 could ultimately endanger both the sector's future and universal service, or that delaying the process might compromise new investment and remove incentives for traditional operators to adapt to changing market conditions and user needs.

For new Member States, and those with a particularly difficult topography or many islands, the deadline for liberalising markets would be two years later, i.e. 31 December 2012, to allow extra time to find ways to maintain universal service.

The vote on the postal services directive is expected to have a huge impact. According to Commission figures, postal services in the EU handle an estimated 135 billion items per year, with an estimated turnover of € 88 billion - equivalent to about 1% of EU GDP. Around 5.2 million people are employed in postal services in the EU.