Madam, - Since Europe began its efforts to fully liberalise the letter mail market, the Berlin Wall has fallen, a single market has been created, and peace has been secured in Northern Ireland. Yet in response to the Commission's most recent proposal finally to complete this task by 2009, there has been another vociferous, determined and energetic campaign to delay the process until well into the next decade.
The Postal Users Group (PUG), an ad hoc alliance of European trade associations and large corporate users of postal services, are deeply disappointed by this response. We have invested considerable time, effort and resource to show how letter mail can and should have a positive and sustainable future in this new liberalised market with the help of fair prices and enhanced service quality; new services and product innovation; and dynamic partnerships between providers and users.
The driver of this change is technology in general and the internet in particular. Consumers and businesses have not universally rejected physical communication. Instead, given the opportunity, they are open to new means of having knowledge and information delivered to their homes and workplaces in creative combinations of the post and the web. And there is proof the policy works. After 10 years of full liberalisation in Sweden, the national operator has kept most of its letter market, improved its efficiency, maintained its universal service and stayed profitable.
The Proposal for a Third Postal Directive, currently before the EU Council of Ministers, while not ideal, would put in place most of the conditions necessary for these new opportunities to be developed. It would also continue to protect the traditional universal postal service, an essential part of the fabric of Europe's social, cultural and economic interaction and infrastructure.
That is why PUG wants the EU to act decisively now and end a debate that is sending negative signals to users and consumers about the future of letter mail.
We are calling on the Council of Ministers to approve the
Commission's proposal to amend Directive 97/67/EC, which will fully
accomplish the internal market in community postal service, and to
agree a fixed deadline of no later than 2010. - Yours, etc,
PER MORTENSEN,
Chairman,
Postal Users' Group,
Brussels,
Belgium.