Left seeks to derail EU postal market plan

[jemima]

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7129136

"Reuters Wednesday December 5 2007

By Huw Jones
BRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Hard-left lawmakers in the European Parliament are mounting a rearguard attempt to derail EU plans to open up the bloc's 88 billion-euro ($129.5 billion) postal markets to full competition from 2011.
The EU assembly is due to take a final vote on the measure next month after the plan was adopted by a broad majority, 512 to 155, in a preliminary vote earlier this year. The measure was also backed by EU states.
The final vote was expected to pass uneventfully but the communist-led GUE/NGL bloc and Green Party members have tabled over 70 amendments, including one to scrap the measure.
"The proposal that emerged from first reading is the result of an ideological will to liberalise the whole postal sector at breakneck speed," one of the amendments said.
The deal opened the gates to social dumping as well as poor working conditions and pay, another amendment said.
The European Commission, the EU executive which drafted the law, urged Parliament to reject the hard-left attempts.
"I say the consensus reached after a lot of hard work must not be undermined," EU Internal Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, told a news conference.
"Most of the amendments now tabled seem to turn the clock backwards. I say we should not tinker with the text. The amendments add nothing to the internal market," McCreevy said.
There was no point abolishing monopoly postal companies only to introduce new barriers to new entrants, McCreevy said.
A spokesman for the 41-member GUE/NGL bloc said everyday postal services and a citizen's right to an efficient public service were not being upheld.
The market for letters weighing up to 50 grams is currently shielded from competition. Mail above that weight is fully liberalised.
The measure has sparked protests by postal workers in many EU nations, especially France, who fear job losses. Some states will be given a further two years to fully open their markets.
Markus Ferber, the German centre-right lawmaker who is steering the law through parliament, said a committee vote was due on Dec. 18, with a plenary second reading vote on Jan. 31.
"I don't expect to see substantial changes," Ferber said.
The hard-left amendments seek to scrap the deal agreed between EU states and parliament in first reading by making it harder for new entrants to compete.
Ferber said the majority of socialists, the bulk of liberals and his own grouping remained behind the first reading deal.
Changing a text agreed by EU states would require a qualified majority in second reading, which the hard left would find impossible to muster without huge defections from other parties. (Editing by David Cowell/Elizabeth Fullerton) "

[merson01]

for your information an article i wrote on the eu and postal privatisation


European Union clears final hurdle to postal privatisation
By Keith Lee

from www.wsws.org

1 November 2007
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The European Union has cleared the final hurdle to full competition in the 88 billion euro postal market by 2011. The agreement amongst Europe’s postal carriers will allow any private operator to carry mail under 50 grams. Only three countries—Sweden, Finland and the United Kingdom—have been fully liberalised.

One of the major sticking points over the 2011 deadline was the Universal Service Obligation (USO). Big business has fought long and hard for the abolition of the so-called “reserved area,â€