Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 97/67/EC concerning the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services
Date: 2007-11-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: liberalisation of the market, postal service, single market, universal service

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 9.11.2007 
COM(2007) 695 final 

2006/0196 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 97/67/EC concerning the full 
accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services 

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2006/0196 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 97/67/EC concerning the full 
accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services 

1 - 

BACKGROUND 

Proposal transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council 
(document COM(2006)594 final – 2006/0196(COD) on: 

19 October 2006. 

European Economic and Social Committee opinion delivered on: 

26 April 2007. 

Committee of the Regions opinion delivered on: 

6 June 2007. 

European Parliament opinion (first reading) delivered on: 

11 July 2007. 

Common position adopted on: 

8 November 2007. 

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AIM OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

Accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services via the abolition of the 
reserved  area  in  all  Member  States;  confirmation  of  the  scope  and  standard  of  universal 
service;  reinforcement  of  consumers'  rights  and  upgrading  of  the  role  of  national  regulatory 
authorities; offering of a list of measures Member States may take to safeguard and finance, if 
necessary, the universal service. 

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3.1 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

General comments 

The  Commission  supports  the  common  position  adopted  on  8  November  2007  by  qualified 
majority. 

The amendments made by the common position, which in this regard follow the relevant EP 
amendments  made  in  the  first  reading,  concern  in  particular  the  final  date  for  the 
implementation  of  the  amending  Directive  (31  December  2010),  the  possibility  for  some 
Member  States  to  postpone  full  market  opening  by  two  more  years  as  a  maximum  and  the 
inclusion of a temporary reciprocity clause applying to those Member States that make use of 
the latter transitional period. Furthermore, and also taking over a substantive element of the 

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EP first reading, the common position inserts a new Annex I to the Directive ("Guidance on 
calculating the net cost, if any, of universal service").  

3.2 

Amendments by the Parliament incorporated into the common position 

The  common  position  incorporates  nearly  all  amendments  made  by  Parliament  in  its  first 
reading. The amendments concern the following provisions: Recitals 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 
16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 31, 32, 34, 39, 41, 42, 46, 53, 54, 55 and Articles 2, 6, 9, 12, 14, 
19, 22a, 23, 23a. 

The  Commission  supports  the  amendments  made  in  the  above  provisions  of  the  common 
position as they are in line with the Commission Proposal, coherent with the Acquis and/or 
are part of the overall political agreement between the institutions. 

Amendments by the EP relating to Recital 27 are reflected in a statement by the Commission 
which, on substance, reflects the Acquis (annexed to this Communication). 

3.3 

Reformulated and new provisions 

Some provisions were reformulated or added in the common position in the interest of greater 
clarity; these concern: Recitals 17, 27, 28, 30, 35, 36, 38, 44, 50, 51, Articles 1, 3, 4, 7, 9 and 
Annex I. 

These  provisions  are  coherent  with  the  EP  amendments  or  can  be  considered  as  reflecting 
requests of the EP, e.g. Annex I in relation to Article 23a (Amendment 58). 

Articles  2  and  3  of  the  amending  Directive  are  an  integral  part  of  the  overall  political 
agreement  and  also  take  over  the  substance  of  the  respective  amendments  made  by  the 
European Parliament in its first reading. 

The Commission can support all above provisions. They are in line with the EP amendments, 
improve and clarify the text of the Directive, and/or are part of the overall political agreement 
between the institutions. 

As regards the issue of correlation tables, the Commission regrets that the common position 
has not followed the Commission and the European Parliament in this regard (see also Recital 
60).  The  Commission  considers  that  the  provision  of  correlation  tables  corresponds  to  the 
principle  of  Better  Regulation  as  well  as  enhancing  the  conformity  of  national  rules  with 
Community provisions. The Commission is, consequently, making a statement on this issue, 
which is annexed to this Communication.  

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4 - 

CONCLUSIONS 

The Commission takes the view that the common position fully reflects the key elements of 
its  initial  proposal  and  of  the  amendments  of  the  European  Parliament  made  in  the  first 
reading.  

The  Commission  therefore  supports  the  common  position  as  adopted  by  the  Council  by 
qualified majority. 

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Annex 

Commission Statement Re Recital 27 

The Commission confirms that in accordance with Recital 18 of Directive 97/67/EC and the 
consistent case law of the European Court of Justice (e.g. Case C-320/91 [Corbeau]), express 
and  courier  services  constitute  specific  services  that  are  characterised  by  being  essentially 
different from universal postal services. 

Commission Statement Re Recital 60 and Article 2 

The Commission recalls its position concerning the creation by Member States of correlation 
tables linking the transposition measures taken by the Member States with the directive, in the 
interest  of  citizens,  Better  Regulation  and  transparency  and  to  assist  the  examination  of  the 
conformity of national rules with Community provisions. 

In this instance, the Commission does not stand in the way of an agreement at Council with a 
view to the successful conclusion of the inter-institutional procedure on this file. However, it 
expects this horizontal matter to be considered jointly by the institutions.  

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