A4-0271/97

Decision on the common position adopted by the Council with view to the adoption of a European Parliament and Council Directive on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service (C4-0223/97 - 95/0221(COD))

(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the common position of the Council, C4-0223/97 - 95/0221(COD),

- having regard to its opinion at first reading ((OJ C 152, 27.5.1996, p. 20.)) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council, COM(95)0227 ((OJ C 322, 2.12.1995 , p. 22.)),

- having regard to the amended Commission proposal, COM(96)0412 ((OJ C 300, 10.10.1996, p. 22.)),

- having regard to Article 189b(2) of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to Rule 72 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A4-0271/97),

1. Amends the common position as follows;

2. Calls on the Commission to support Parliament's amendments in the opinion it is required to deliver pursuant to Article 189b(2)(d) of the EC Treaty;

3. Calls on the Council to approve all Parliament's amendments, amend its common position accordingly and definitively adopt the act;

4. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and Commission.

(Amendment 1)

Recital 27

>Original text>

(27) Whereas the remuneration for the provision of the intra- Community cross-border mail service, without prejudice to the minimum set of obligations derived from Universal Postal Union acts, should be geared to costs of delivery according to specified quality-of-service targets, thus justifying suitable systems providing for an appropriate coverage of costs and related specifically to the quality of service achieved;

>Text following EP vote>

(27) Whereas the remuneration for the provision of the intra- Community cross-border mail service, without prejudice to the minimum set of obligations derived from Universal Postal Union acts, should be geared to cover the costs of delivery incurred by the universal service provider in the country of destination; whereas this remuneration should also provide an incentive to improve or maintain the quality of the cross-border service through the use of quality of service targets; whereas this would justify suitable systems providing for an appropriate coverage of costs and related specifically to the quality of service achieved;

(Amendment 2)

Article 3(3), 2nd indent

>Original text>

- one door-to-door delivery for every natural or legal person or, by way of derogation, under conditions at the discretion of the national regulatory authority, one delivery to appropriate installations.

>Text following EP vote>

- one door-to-door delivery for every natural or legal person.

The circumstances mentioned above must be communicated to the Commission and to all national regulatory authorities.

(Amendment 3)

Article 4

>Original text>

Each Member State shall, under procedures deemed appropriate, designate one or more postal operators to be responsible for providing universal service and shall notify the Commission of the operator(s) selected. In accordance with Community law, each Member State shall determine the obligations and rights assigned to the universal service provider(s) and shall publish them.

>Text following EP vote>

Each Member State shall ensure that the provision of the universal service is guaranteed and shall notify the Commission of the steps it has taken to fulfil this obligation and, in particular, the identity of its universal service provider(s). Each Member State shall determine in accordance with Community law the obligations and rights assigned to the universal service provider(s) and shall publish them.

>Text following EP vote>

(This amendment entails a technical adaptation of the definition of 'universal service provider¨ in Article 2(13) as well as of Article 5(1).)

(Amendment 4)

Article 7(1)

>Original text>

1. To the extent necessary to ensure the maintenance of universal service, the services which may be reserved by each Member State for the universal service provider(s) shall be the clearance, sorting, transport and delivery of items of domestic correspondence, whether by accelerated delivery or not, the price of which is less than five times the public tariff for an item of correspondence in the first weight step of the fastest standard category where such category exists, provided that they weigh less than 350 g.

>Text following EP vote>

1. To the extent necessary to ensure the maintenance of universal service, the services which may be reserved by each Member State for the universal service provider(s) shall be the clearance, sorting, transport and delivery of items of domestic correspondence, whether by accelerated delivery or not, the price of which is less than five times the public tariff for an item of correspondence in the first weight step of the fastest standard category where such category exists, provided that they weigh less than 350 g. In the case of the free postal service for blind and partially sighted persons, exceptions to the weight and price restrictions may be permitted.

(Amendment 5)

Article 12, second indent a (new)

>Text following EP vote>

- the application of a uniform tariff does not exclude the right of the universal service provider(s) to conclude individual agreements on prices with customers,