Liberalisation of post is step backwards
Liberalisation of post is step backwards
The SP group in the European Parliament voted today against the further liberalisation of the postal market. Explaining the SP's hostility to the move, Euro-MP Erik Meijer said: "We fear that both the service and working conditions for postal employees will get worse.".
The European Parliament's three biggest groups, the centre-right 'European People's Party' and Liberals, and the centre-left Party of European Socialists – the social democrats – reached a compromise position before the plenary debate. The compromise involved agreement on phase-in times and attendant market measures. "This nevertheless remains a liberalisation measure with all of the consequences of such," Meijer said. "Cheaper postal services for some may be one of these, but these will be achieved through deteriorating working conditions and lower levels of service. That's why we are voting against, and why we presented a number of amendments which would bring about some small improvements."
Liberalisation of the postal market represents the end of a long process, as Meijer explained. "In the second half of the 19th century European states nationalised their postal services because private firms could not cope with the demands of a universal service. There have always been protests about this, and firms which tried to break the state's monopoly. They offered cheaper services, but only in the busiest and most profitable areas, not by offering a universal service, and by paying lower wages. The present political majority wants to return to the situation where we have to relay on the market."