Malta granted two-year concession for postal services liberalisation

Malta and another 10 EU member states have managed to obtain a two-year concession from the EU before being obliged to fully liberalise their postal services market.

During an EU Telecoms Council held in Luxembourg, EU ministers responsible for postal services agreed to introduce total liberalisation in this sector as from the beginning of 2011.

However, due to the recent privatisation of Maltapost, Malta requested, and was granted, a further two-year transitional period and will now only be obliged to introduce full liberalisation by the beginning of 2013.

Speaking to The Times after this decision yesterday, Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea welcomed the deal and said this will give Malta more breathing space.

"We wanted a transitional period in view of the recent privatisation of Maltapost. We considered that it would be more adequate to leave our options open and allow the possibility of having more time for the market to stabilise," he said.

Mr Galea said Malta believes the liberalisaton of the postal services will benefit consumers and the economy.

"Malta feels that the liberalisation of the postal services sector is important and will bring about improved services for the consumer. Existing service providers will be motivated to become more reliable and efficient, offer new services and further increase their customer focus in the light of potential competition from new market entrants," he said.

A few weeks ago, the government sold another 25 per cent stake in Maltapost to Red Box, a fully-owned subsidiary of Lombard Bank which now holds the majority of the company's shares. The government has also announced its intention to float the remaining shares of the company on the Malta Stock Exchange early next year.

National postal operators such as Maltapost still enjoy a monopoly on mail below a certain weight (currently a maximum of 50 grammes), known as the "reserved area". However, with the new EU agreement, this will cease.

The same EU regulations already oblige member states to provide a basic service known as the "universal" package, which comprises at least one delivery and collection, five days a week, for every EU citizen.

The government will still be able to subsidise this service in cases of remote and "non-commercial" areas.

The postal service in Malta is regulated by the Malta Communications Authority.