Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-13-Speech-3-047"
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"en.20001213.1.3-047"2
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"Mr President, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Ferber, who indeed had a difficult task. Commissioner Bolkestein's proposals were regrettably a bridge too far. I certainly recognise that there is nothing wrong with the concept of liberalisation
and that it can bring benefits to consumers. However, it also brings certain obligations – particularly the need to guarantee universality of services. This would not have been the case with the original proposals. While they would have worked in highly urbanised countries, they spelt disaster for rural countries like Ireland. In exposing somewhere between 46 and 48% of the revenue of An Post to competition, it would have created serious doubts for the long-term viability of the Irish postal service as we know it. The cherry-picking that would have ensued would have jeopardised the ability of An Post to deliver daily and universally at reasonable cost. Furthermore, the ability of our national postal service to cross-subsidise our rural post office infrastructure would have been put in serious doubt.
I therefore welcome the amended report that has emerged from the committee. It is indeed a balanced compromise and I hope that it will be accepted by the Council. Let me say this to An Post: if this happens, you will have been given a valuable breathing space. Use it to develop and invest in Ireland's rural post office system. There are many possibilities apart from the one-stop shop where all government services are available to the local community, such as e-commerce and the Internet. Do not take the short-sighted easy option of allowing the rural post office system to die. It is a decision that you will regret."@en1
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