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On 27 February 2008, the European Communities third Postal Directive came into force, mandating the opening of postal markets to competition no later than 31 December 2010. In anticipation of these developments, ComReg published its Postal Strategy Statement for the coming three years on 14 February 2008.
ComReg holds that there are three key issues which will determine how well Irish consumers will benefit from the introduction of competition into the Irish postal market:
- Price Control The Directive requires that the prices of services forming part of the “universal” service guaranteed by the Directive are ‘affordable’, ‘cost oriented’, ‘transparent’ and ‘non-discriminatory’. Member States have discretion as to how this requirement should be enforced. ComReg believes that, in the interest of postal consumers, An Post should continue to get approval before increasing its prices - it is very difficult to turn the clock back once prices are increased.
- Quality The Directive requires An Post to provide a high quality service, but it is no use setting targets if there is no effective enforcement procedure as is currently the case.
- Provision of ‘universal’ service There is a need for a precise and unambiguous definition of the services guaranteed to Irish consumers. Currently the Minister designates An Post as the ‘universal service provider’ to provide these services. The new Directive recognises that this may not be the best approach in a competitive market. Other options recommended by the European Commission include market provision and public procurement. Market provision means that it is up to postal service providers to decide what services to provide, while the regulator would intervene if there were any resulting gaps in service provision.
Details of all related EU Documents can be found in ComReg Document 08/31
In preparing the market for full liberalisation, ComReg dedicated it’s 2007 Annual National Conference to ‘Postal Services for the 21st Century'. The conference focused on the postal services that consumers such as businesses, administrative bodies and private individuals will need in the future, and how best these services can be provided in terms of price, quality and services.
In conjunction with the National Conference ComReg commissioned consultants LECG Ltd to provide a detailed report which addressed the overall question of how to best ensure that consumers benefit from the opening of the Irish postal market to competition. The full LECG report is available at ComReg Document CP45e.
The following presentations were made at the 2007 National Conference:
ComReg reports on An Post quality of service performance between April and June 2008
Reference Number: PR040908
Download Document: PR040908.pdf- Date: Thursday, 4th September 2008
- File Type: Adobe Acrobat Document
- File Size: 30 KB
- Publications Type: Media Release
- Publications Category: Postal Regulation, Quality of Service
Get Adobe Acrobat ReaderOn 27 February 2008, the European Communities third Postal Directive came into force, mandating the opening of postal markets to competition no later than 31 December 2010. In anticipation of these developments, ComReg published its Postal Strategy Statement for the coming three years on 14 February 2008.
ComReg holds that there are three key issues which will determine how well Irish consumers will benefit from the introduction of competition into the Irish postal market:
- Price Control The Directive requires that the prices of services forming part of the “universal” service guaranteed by the Directive are ‘affordable’, ‘cost oriented’, ‘transparent’ and ‘non-discriminatory’. Member States have discretion as to how this requirement should be enforced. ComReg believes that, in the interest of postal consumers, An Post should continue to get approval before increasing its prices - it is very difficult to turn the clock back once prices are increased.
- Quality The Directive requires An Post to provide a high quality service, but it is no use setting targets if there is no effective enforcement procedure as is currently the case.
- Provision of ‘universal’ service There is a need for a precise and unambiguous definition of the services guaranteed to Irish consumers. Currently the Minister designates An Post as the ‘universal service provider’ to provide these services. The new Directive recognises that this may not be the best approach in a competitive market. Other options recommended by the European Commission include market provision and public procurement. Market provision means that it is up to postal service providers to decide what services to provide, while the regulator would intervene if there were any resulting gaps in service provision.
Details of all related EU Documents can be found in ComReg Document 08/31
In preparing the market for full liberalisation, ComReg dedicated it’s 2007 Annual National Conference to ‘Postal Services for the 21st Century'. The conference focused on the postal services that consumers such as businesses, administrative bodies and private individuals will need in the future, and how best these services can be provided in terms of price, quality and services.
In conjunction with the National Conference ComReg commissioned consultants LECG Ltd to provide a detailed report which addressed the overall question of how to best ensure that consumers benefit from the opening of the Irish postal market to competition. The full LECG report is available at ComReg Document CP45e.
The following presentations were made at the 2007 National Conference:
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