Postal services: common rules for the development of the services and improvement of quality of service

The Committee will recommend approval of Council's common position on the liberalisation of the postal services in the EU. After a 5 year's political debate, rapporteur Brian SIMPSON (PES, UK) said that Council had taken most of Parliament's concerns into account. In his draft recommendation for second reading, the rapporteur stresses the importance of this common position as it fully incorporates the main political views of the Parliament. The common position is based on a more gradual approach for the achievement of the liberalisation of the market of postal services: - in order to reconcile the opening-up of the postal markets with the aim of protecting these markets from the negative effects of a sudden and uncontrolled liberalisation, the public postal operators must have a reserved sector large enough to guarantee that this aim is possible; - this reserved area includes direct and cross-border mail, whereas the universal service comprises packages up to 10 kg, which could be extended to 20 kg by the public authorities. This constitutes a sufficiently strong area for the provisions of service in the public sector. �