Alex Singleton | Journalist and political commentator

A European Parliament committee this week recommended postponing the deadline for full liberalisation of the letter-delivery market until at least 2011, maybe 2013. That’s good news for monopolies like France’s La Poste but bad news for customers. According to The Wall Street Journal: “In the 10 members of the EU-15 that haven’t completed or planned postal liberalization, the average stamp price rose by 7 European cents, or about 18%, between December 2001 and February 2007, according to data from the Free and Fair Post Initiative. In the five countries that have liberalized, the average price fell by 2 cents, or about 4%. Studies show that full market opening, including cross-border competition, could drive prices down by as much as 20% to 25%.”