BRATISLAVA, January 5, (WEBNOVINY) – If approved, the new law on postal services should come into force as of January, 2012, when the postal reservation should be scrapped in Slovakia and the local postal market should be fully liberalized. It would be a year earlier than planned. Slovakia and other ten EU members have been granted an exemption for completion of the opening of the postal market, according to which they have until December 31, 2012 to do so. It ensues from the blueprint of Postal Policy until 2014 submitted by the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development for interdepartmental review.
The main aim of the Postal Policy for the next four years is implementation of the European directive from 2008 related to finalizing liberalization of postal markets in EU member states in the national postal services legislation. The Postal Policy blueprint was drawn up based on the government program statement, according to which legislative and regulation framework should be set for providing postal services on the liberalized market with the guarantee of universal postal service. Several recommendations of the European Commission were incorporated in the draft.
The European directive from three years ago set the deadline for EU member states to finalize liberalization of their postal markets for December 31, 2010. Eleven members, including Slovakia were however granted additional two years to implement full liberalization while by the end of 2012 at the latest, the states should stipulate services for providers of universal postal service. The state-run postal company Slovenska Posta provides universal services based on a 10-year post license issued by the Postal Regulatory Office valid from January, 2003 until the end of 2012.
The new act on postal services should bring a change in the system of eligibility for providing postal services and introduce a new model of financing of the universal service through compensation fund. Apart from changes to the position of postal companies it will also set up rights and obligations of these companies and users of postal services, legal relations related to damage liability and provisions on state regulation of several areas of the postal market as well as state supervision over provision of postal services.
SITA
