Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-14-Speech-4-054"
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"en.20001214.1.4-054"2
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"For many years in this Parliament I have supported the principle of gradual controlled liberalisation of postal services with a view to creating an effective single market in the postal domain. This support, however, has been conditional on the preservation of a high quality universal service. This is indispensable, especially for rural, remote and sparsely populated areas and even for certain parts of towns and cities too. In such places, postmen perform what I might even describe as a socio-cultural function, a function that I sincerely hope we can afford to maintain in our affluent society.
In the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs I tabled a number of amendments to the Commission proposal. All the amendments relating to the recitals were adopted, but then, all of a sudden, along came a number of my honourable colleagues, some of whom were not members of the committee, and agreed to coordinate their votes, which resulted in the rejection of the amendments to the articles corresponding to the amended recitals. This naturally produced an utter shambles, which prompted a majority of the committee members, quite rightly, to reject this half-baked document. For that reason, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs was unable to formulate an opinion.
I am therefore particularly grateful to the rapporteur of the lead committee, Mr Markus Ferber, for having produced an acceptable compromise which largely takes account of the letter and spirit of my amendments. I can live with this, especially since
it does not contain a new definition of special services, and
the price and weight limits are set at reasonable levels, with weights of up to 150 grams remaining the sole preserve of the universal service, linked with a price ceiling of four times the public tariff.
The limits of 50 grams and two and a half times the public tariff are truly too drastic and would have had dire consequences for the providers of universal postal services. This would also have been the case if outgoing cross-border mail and express services had been entirely liberalised, which the Luxembourg postal service in particular, because of our country's size and geographical situation, could not have withstood. The compromise takes account of my amendment to this effect, which means that I can endorse the report with a clear conscience at this first reading.
However, I repudiate the insinuations made by those who advocate forced liberalisation with no regard for the loss of people's quality of life and jobs, who seek to present me and the honourable Members who share my view as acting on behalf of the post-office lobby which is intent on preserving its monopoly. I emphatically reject such insinuations."@en1
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