Commission presents proposal for Third Postal Services Directive

The EU is entering the final stages of a 15-year process to render Europeanpostal services more efficient by opening them up to competition, but MemberStates will have to first overcome differences of opinion regarding the speed ofliberalisation. The Commission presented its proposal for a Third PostalServices Directive on 18 October 2006. The Council held a preliminary exchangeof views regarding the proposal on 11 December 2006 and Parliament’s TransportCommittee held a first-reading vote on a Report by German MEP Marcus Ferber(EPP-ED) on the proposal on 7 May 2007. The ministers will discuss the proposalin the Telecommunications Council on 6 - 8 June 2007. Political agreement uponthe proposal is possible even though France and its allies are enough to createa blocking minority.