WRITTEN QUESTION E-2970/01 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Liberalisation of the postal services in Greece.
Date: 2001-10-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, State aid, application of EU law, liberalisation of the market, national implementing measure, postal service, provision of services, public investment, quality standard, services contract

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/203

2. The 1994-1999 Community Support Framework (CSF)

referred to the need to improve the
arrangements for awarding public works. A Joint Steering Committee was set up in January 1995, as
a sub-Committee of the CSF Monitoring Committee, with the remit of contributing to this reform. It
produced some studies and submitted proposals based on some 15 topics. Several of these proposals
led to important legal and/or administrative provisions being taken. Others are still being examined at
political level. The 2000-2006 CSF refers clearly to the need to continue and complete this reform and
provides for a detailed action plan to be submitted to the Commission for the completion of the main
part of this reform by the end of 2001. It is also planned to set up a committee of experts to assist the
managing authority for the CSF in this regard.

3. With the exception of Directive 98/4/EC of

the Council of
16 February 1998 amending Directive 93/38/EEC coordinating the procurement procedures of entities
operating in the water, energy,
for which a draft
presidential decree is, however, currently in the process of being adopted, Greece has transposed all
the Community directives on the award of public contracts.

transport and telecommunications sectors (2),

the European Parliament and of

4. As regards the award of public works concessions, in particular, Greece has also transposed into its
national legislation the relevant rules from Council Directive 93/37/EEC of 14 June 1993 concerning
the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts (3) (Presidential Decree No
334/2000 of 21 December 2000). As for the rest of your question, and according to the information
available to the Commission, Greece has not adopted any legislative framework specific to the award
of public works concessions in addition to the rules of Community law for the purposes of managing
the award and execution of such contracts. For this reason, public works concessions that are
currently put up for competition in Greece are governed by ad hoc rules, adopted specifically for each
It must nevertheless be added that a draft law is being prepared by the Greek
individual case.
authorities to make up for this lacuna, but it is not yet known within what timescale it will be
adopted.

(1) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992.
(2) OJ L 101, 1.4.1998.
(3) OJ L 199, 9.8.1993.

(2002/C 115 E/216)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2970/01

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Liberalisation of the postal services in Greece

(26 October 2001)

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?

C 115 E/204

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

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:

B lack of adequate independence of the national regulatory authority with regard to the public postal

operator;

B an authorisation system that imposes excessive administrative burdens and tariffs on some postal

service providers;

B 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.

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/205

The Directive harmonises the range of services that a Member State can reserve to the universal
2.
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.

Greece has introduced legislation for the granting of authorisations for non-reserved postal services,
3.
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
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.

into the Greek postal service,

(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.