European Union governments are expected to agree next week on the dismantling of remaining national monopolies for mail delivery by 2011, with an additional grace period granted to some countries, diplomats said Friday, according to AP. The European Commission had advocated a full opening of the delivery of letters under 50 grams _ the last category where national postal companies face no rivals _ by 2009, but faced opposition from a number of countries who feared national monopolies holding on to the lucrative part of the sector would lose out as rivals move in. A key outstanding question is how to finance universal public service that would ensure every European _ not just in big cities but also in remote areas _ gets at least one delivery and collection a day, five days a week, even after rival companies move into markets. At a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, ministers from the EU's 27 countries are expected to allow governments to subsidize loss-making operators to guarantee such universal service, or let them create a fund into which all postal operators active in the country contribute, diplomats said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue has not been settled. A transitional period of up to two years _ to 2013 _ is expected to be granted to the EU's 12 newest members and countries with scattered population or islands to fully liberalize their postal services. However, only eight countries _ Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus, Greece and Luxembourg _ have so far expressed interest in this grace period, diplomats said. The Portuguese EU presidency aims to draw up a complete list of countries to get the extra two years on Monday. The current EU legislation governing the ¤88 billion (US$125 billion) EU postal industry expires at the end of 2008. Full liberalization of the sector should lead to more reliable and better quality mail deliveries, the EU's executive arm has said. Many countries have been slow to open their postal market to competition, and some have been reluctant to move forward with a reform first considered nearly 15 years ago. Ninety percent of European mail is sent by businesses, and this is where most new entrants are likely to target new, lower-priced services _ ignoring unprofitable consumer services in remote or rural areas. Only Sweden, Britain and Finland have so far scrapped all legal monopolies for the postal service, while Germany and the Netherlands will do so in January, meaning 55 percent of mail deliveries in the EU will be fully liberalized by the beginning of next year.
