PRESS RELEASE

POSTAL LIBERALIZATION: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY TO PARLIAMENT AND GOVERNMENT - COMPETITION AT RISK WITHOUT TRULY INDEPENDENT REGULATOR

Draft decree approved by the Executive branch contains elements that deviate from Community guidelines.  Perplexity concerning how the universal service contract is awarded, its boundaries and the monopoly of Poste Italiane
Without a truly impartial and independent Regulatory body, the deregulation of postal services could start off with its foot on the brakes. So reads a report to Parliament and Government, as the Antitrust Authority contests the Agency model being proposed in a draft bill passed by the Executive and currently under review in the Houses.
By decree, according to the Antitrust Authority, the organ assigned to oversee the path to postal deregulation must, as provided expressly by law, remain under the authority of Public Administration, subordinate to the guidance and oversight of a Minister who defines its functions, organizational structure and financing methods.  It would be impossible for this Agency to be independent of postal operators, however, because of the fact that Poste Italiane, the current universal service provider and dominant player in most of the markets in question, is entirely publicly owned.
According to the Antitrust Authority, the nexus of independence and impartiality is indeed a critical one because of how the decree makes the new regulator responsible for adopting the measures needed to promote competition in the postal markets. The attribution of regulatory functions to the Agency instead of an Independent Authority, furthermore, fails to conform with European guidelines.
The Antitrust Authority remains perplexed by the failure to incorporate the basic measures required to foster effective competition in the postal sector, such as the use of an open call for bids for contracting universal services, a review of their boundaries and a prohibition on postal monopolies.

Rome, 15 January 2011