The Liberalisation of Postal Services in the European Union: An Analysis of Directive 97/67

Abstract:     
This paper reviews the main aspects of the 1997 EC postal directive in the light of the case law of the European Court of Justice and the decisional practice of the European Commission. Reference is also be made to the Commission notice on the application of the competition rules to the postal sector. The paper first outlines the main objectives of the directives, i.e. the strengthening of the public postal service via a Community definition of universal service and the progressive liberalisation of postal services through a limitation of the scope of reserved services. It then examines the regulatory requirements imposed on postal operators in order to achieve the objectives referred to above and reviews the proposals recently put forward by the Commission to amend the postal directive.

Keywords: Postal services, liberalization, competition, antitrust, regulation, European Union

JEL Classifications: K21, L40, L50, H40

Accepted Paper Series