WRITTEN QUESTION E-0586/02

by Jacqueline Foster (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 March 2002)

Subject: Postal services

The Commission has introduced an effective system to monitor price differentials in the EU car sector. DG Competition regularly publishes studies that show the prices that consumers have to pay for the main car makes and models in every Member State. These studies have become a useful and powerful instrument for the Commission to fight breaches of the competition rules in the car sector and to promote changes of the internal market rules. Differences in car prices in the EU currently vary between approximately 10 % and, in extreme cases, up to 50 %.

In the EU postal sector, the differences in prices for similar postal services vary considerably. Consumers in Germany pay 2,33 times the price that Spanish consumers pay for a similar, basic service. Whereas buyers of cars can choose from multiple makes and supply channels, buyers of postal services are generally bound to one supplier, the national monopoly. Therefore, the effectiveness of the EC's efforts to ensure that consumers are not overcharged is crucial for the functioning of the market.

It seems that regular studies of price differentials for basic postal services, and their causes, are needed in order to ensure that consumers in the EU are not being overcharged, that EC competition rules are not being breached and that the Commission can adequately tackle internal market distortions. Such data would, for instance, help the Commission to determine whether the revenues from the postal operators' monopolies were not being misused for purposes that lie outside the universal service obligation in ways that are contrary to the Postal Directive. In addition, such data would increase the Commission's understanding of the postal market with regard to future EC liberalisation measures.

Can the Commission intimate its view on the introduction of a monitoring system for the postal sector, similar to the one used to monitor car prices and taking the characteristics of the postal market into consideration?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0585/02 and E-0586/02given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(23 April 2002)

As indicated in the answer to written question E-0584/02 by the Honourable Member, under the Postal Directive(1), Member States are obliged to ensure that tariffs for postal services within the universal service are affordable and geared to costs. Overseeing the application of these requirements is primarily the responsibility of the Member States.

In order to ensure compliance with these principles, the Commission continuously monitors the evolution of postal tariffs in the Member States, and would intervene, if appropriate, either on the basis of the Postal Directive or on the competition rules.

Introducing a system for comparing postal tariffs across the Member States similar to the one that the Commission currently maintains for car prices, does not seem to be warranted at present.

Since postal tariffs are regulated by the Member States themselves, price comparisons would reflect the different regulatory approaches taken in the various Member States to a large extent. Price differences resulting from administrative pricing decisions would neither provide any information about the competitive situation in various markets, nor disclose suspected breaches of the Community competition rules. Considering the fact that, in most Member States the incumbent postal operators benefit from wide-ranging postal monopolies, there is not yet a functioning internal market for postal services. A system of price comparisons would therefore not make it any easier for the Commission to tackle internal market distorsions.

In conclusion, the Commission considers that its current price monitoring system, and its action on individual cases, are sufficient to ensure that prices are affordable and that the consumer is not overcharged.

Finally, the Commission expects that the proposed legislative measures to increase competition in the postal markets will gradually provide a downward pressure on postal tariffs and work towards a reduction in price differences.

(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.