WRITTEN QUESTION E-2583/96 by Viviane Reding (PPE) to the Commission (11 October 1996)

Subject: Liberalization of direct mail

In the latest version of the draft directive on postal services, the Commission proposes that direct mail be automatically liberalized with effect from January 2001. This proposal, which runs counter to the opinions delivered by the European Parliament, is risky for more than one reason:

- the removal of addressed advertising material from the reserved sector could adversely affect the financial viability of universal service providers;

- the definition of a category of mail according to its contents (who would monitor them and how?) rather than on the basis of objective criteria (weight or price) could set a precedent, the consequences of which would be uncertain.

Is the Commission prepared to withdraw its proposals on direct mail? Will it conduct suitable research into the impact of liberalizing addressed advertising material and, if necessary, submit a proposal for a specific directive on direct mail?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (28 October 1996)

In its proposal for a Directive on common rules for the development of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, ((OJ C 322, 2.12.1995; amended proposal COM(96) 412 final. )) the Commission proposed that direct mail might continue to be reserved until 31 December 2000, wherever its reservation was necessary for the financial equilibrium of universal service providers. The Commission was to decide on 30 June 1998 at the latest as to the appropriateness of maintaining the reservation of this service after 31 December 2000, taking into account the developments, in particular economic, social and technological developments, that had occurred by that date, and also taking into account the financial equilibrium of the universal service providers.

In its amended proposal, the Commission maintained its original proposal, based on the experiences of Member States where direct mail has been liberalized. These experiences show that the public operator still holds more than 90% of the direct mail market (which proves that liberalization does not in fact endanger the provision of universal services) and that there are no monitoring problems (the Member States which have liberalized direct mail distribution have not deemed it necessary to introduce systems to identify envelopes containing direct mail or to use specific monitoring systems).

The reason for this is that, by its nature, direct mail is sent to a very large number of addressees and requires a very dense distribution network, especially in residential areas, towns and villages, in order to keep costs low. For this reason, large businesses which send out direct mail prefer to use a one-stop office system rather than to have dealings with many different small local or regional operators. Private operators, on the other hand, prefer to concentrate on gaps in the market with higher added value, such as express or parcel services.

While it appreciates the concerns expressed by Parliament and a minority of Member States, the Commission nevertheless maintains in its amended proposal the revision planned for 1998.