WRITTEN QUESTION E-2970/01

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 October 2001)

Subject: Liberalisation of the postal services in Greece

Directive 97/67/EEC(1) on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service stipulates that the Member States must bring into force the provisions necessary to comply with the directive no later than 21 October 1999.

In view of the operational problems in the Greek postal services, and given the fact that consideration is being given, with the new proposal for a directive, to the opening-up of approximately 20 % of the total postal services market in the EU in 2003:

1. Has Greek legislation been brought into line with the above Community legislation, and what is the result of the application of provisions on liberalisation (quantitative share of the market) and the improvement of the quality of postal services, such as the compulsory days for the delivery of cross-border post?

2. Has Greece taken steps to liberalise the postal services market, so as to guarantee in this market, as in the other Member States, a universal postal service, criteria defining non-reserved services, tariff principles, transparency of accounts, the setting of quality standards, the harmonisation of technical standards and the creation of independent national authorities?

3. Has Greece introduced general procedures for the granting of authorisations, so as to guarantee compliance with the fundamental requirements ensuring the orderly operation of a universal Greek postal service, with easy access for users to the postal network?

4. Are shares and Balladur bonds issued by the Greek state included under the heading Debt securities including fixed-income securities in the assets section of the balance sheet for 2000, and how much do they amount to?

5. Do Balladur bonds, revenue anticipation notes and securitisations constitute indirect forms of State aid to cover public expenditure and public bodies' debts, and if so, has Greece notified the granting of State aid to the Greek postal services in accordance with Article 87(3) of the EC Treaty, dealing with State aid?

(1) OJ L 15, 21.1.1998, p. 14.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(18 January 2002)

Directive 97/67/EC(1) required that all Member States be fully compliant with its provisions by the 10th February 1999, apart from some requirements concerning accounting procedures of the universal service providers. Member States had to be in compliance with these accounting provisions by the 10th February 2000.

1. The majority of the Directive has been correctly implemented in the Greek legislation. However, the Commission considers that there remain a number of areas where Greek legislation is still not in compliance with the Directive.

These include:

- lack of adequate independence of the national regulatory authority with regard to the public postal operator;

- an authorisation system that imposes excessive administrative burdens and tariffs on some postal service providers;

- companies providing services outside the scope of the universal service may be obliged to contribute to a compensation fund for the costs of universal service provision.

After a request by the Commission, the Greek Authorities have submitted information in October 2001 about a number of measures aimed to bring their legislation fully in line with the Directive. New legislation on registration fees has already been adopted, and proposed amendments to the existing legislation will soon be presented to the Greek Parliament.

Details about the quality of postal services, where the Commission services also believe that Greece does not yet fully comply with the Directive, are provided below.

It was estimated by the Commission that Directive 97/67/EC would open to competition, on average, less than 2 % of letter volumes and less than 3 % of public operators' revenues.

The Commission's estimations for Greece were that less than 4 % of the revenues of the public operator, ELTA, would be affected by the opening provided by the Directive.

The practical application of the Directive has been that most public operators have retained a substantial share of the market segment opened to competition and of the corresponding revenues. This has also been the case in Greece, although the Commission has not any detailed market figures in this respect.

Although a number of measures have been introduced in Greece to improve the quality of cross-border services (e.g. Ministerial Decision 79293/11.12.2000), the Commission considers that Greek legislation does not completely conform with the Directive. This is the case regarding the quality of service, the cross-border performance of Greek postal services and its independent monitoring.

Following a request by the Commission, the Greek Authorities reported in July 2001 that they are taking a number of measures to gradually improve the quality of the postal service. The Commission is following the situation closely and may request further action to ensure that Greece is taking all the necessary measures to fully comply with the Directive in this respect.

2. The Directive harmonises the range of services that a Member State can reserve to the universal service provider(s) to ensure provision of a universal service under financially balanced conditions. Greece has proceeded to reserve a number of services to the Greek Universal Service Provider, ELTA. These represent the maximum authorised by Article 7 of the Directive.

Greece has also introduced the possibility of a compensation fund in its legislation, as a complementary way of safeguarding the universal service. This fund, authorised by Article 9.4 of the Directive, could eventually be used to compensate the Universal Service Provider(s) for any unfair financial burden that the universal service may represent.

Greece has defined the reserved services in line with the Directive. Non-reserved services are defined as all postal services which do not comply with the definition of reserved services.

This is the solution most Member States have chosen and is probably the most appropriate to implement the Directive in this respect.

Greece has regulated non-reserved services through authorisation procedures, which are explained below in answer to the third question.

As has been previously stated, Greece has introduced legislation to comply with all the provisions in the Directive, including those mentioned in the question above. The only exceptions being those of quality of service, the full independence of its regulatory authority, authorisation procedures and compensation funding arrangements.

3. Greece has introduced legislation for the granting of authorisations for non-reserved postal services, as permitted by Article 9 of Directive 97/67/EC. These provisions are, namely, Law number 2668 and the Ministerial decision number 57810, although further detailed provisions are expected concerning individual licenses.

This system of authorisations is aimed at guaranteeing the essential requirements which Member States must protect with regard to the universal service under Articles 2.19 and 5 of Directive 97/67/EC (confidentiality of correspondence, security of the network as regards the transport of dangerous goods and, where justified, data protection, environmental protection and regional planning).

Law number 2668 has also introduced a number of dispositions to comply with the Directive requirements on users' access to the postal network: i.e. universal and non-discriminatory access, density of contact points to take account of the needs of the users, five days a week clearance and delivery and the imposition of subsequent obligations on the Universal Service Provider in this respect.

4. and 5. In order to check whether measures such as a holding in the capital of an enterprise or an advance on income constitute State aid, the relevant criterion to be applied is based on whether the enterprise could obtain the amounts in question on the private equity market. In the case of an enterprise in which the public authorities hold virtually 100 % of the capital, it needs to be determined whether in similar circumstances a private shareholder, having regard to the foreseeability of obtaining a return and leaving aside all social, regional policy and sectoral considerations, would have subscribed the capital in question. Where the injection of public capital disregarded any prospect of profitability, even in the long term, such injection must be regarded as aid.

The Commission has received no notification under Article 87 (ex Article 92) §3 of the EC Treaty concerning aid granted by Greece to the postal service. However, having been informed about major injections of capital into the Greek postal service, it has sent a request for information to the Greek authorities in order to check whether these transactions comply with the Community rules on State aid. For the moment, the Commission has no information on the issue of whether the heading Debt securities including fixed-income securities in the 2000 budget includes shares and Balladur bonds issued by the Greek state. The Commission is currently investigating this matter.

(1) Directive 97/67/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, OJ L 15, 21.1.1998.