Legal Eye: Monopoly end in the post

The current monopoly on mail delivery within Poland and other member states will soon come to an end if a proposed amendment to the EU Postal Directive is adopted by the EU Parliament and Council.

Under current regulations, Poland and other EU member states are entitled to maintain a monopoly on the delivery of domestic mail weighing less than 50 grams. The proposed amendment to the Postal Directive would eliminate this threshold, thereby permitting private carriers to compete in the delivery of all mail, regardless of size. At present third-party delivery services, such as UPS, DHL and TNT, are permitted to handle the delivery of mail crossing national borders, while facing weight restrictions on the delivery of purely domestic mail.

Weight limits

First enacted in 1997, the Postal Directive sought to open up competition in the delivery of mail exceeding 350 grams in weight. In 2003 that number was lowered to 100 grams, followed by a further reduction in 2006 to the current 50-gram threshold. Under the proposed amendment, the final threshold would be eliminated altogether sometime in 2009, thus opening up the provision of mail-delivery services to greater competition.

States still responsible

The Postal Directive, in addition to seeking to eliminate state monopolies in the provision of postal services, also imposes upon each member state certain "quality control" obligations, which presumably will remain intact even though the state will no longer retain a monopoly on the delivery of mail weighing less than 50 grams. Referred to as "universal service," each member state is obligated to ensure that mail delivery is guaranteed "every working day and not less than five days a week" (Art. 3, Postal Directive).

Additionally, universal service requires each member state to ensure that affordable postal service is provided at all points throughout the territory necessary to satisfy the needs of users. States are free to set their own postal rates, including setting a cap on domestic prices charged by a private postal carrier.

Quality of service

A universal service provider, whether state-controlled or private, is required to observe minimum standards as provided by the Postal Directive; however, the actual standards are to be set by the individual member states themselves.

With respect to quality standards for intra-Community, cross-border mail delivery, minimum requirements do exist. Ordinary mail, meaning letters or packages assessed with a "normal" rate of postage, should be delivered to the addressee within five days of the drop-off date. If premium postage is paid, the delivery time should take no more than three days. Unfortunately these time limits do not apply to purely domestic mail.

Follow the leader

Poland would not be first in opening up the postal service to private competition, nor would it be the last presumably. Sweden opened up its postal sector to competition 13 years ago. And at present Germany, Finland and the Netherlands are advanced in opening up their postal sectors to greater competition.

Citing the need to open up the postal sector to greater competition, EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy summed it up best: "In the long term only postal reform can guarantee a viable postal sector and ensure sustainable employment."

Paul Fogo is a senior attorney with Miller, Canfield, W Babicki & Partners, fogo@pl.millercanfield.com