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The Hellenic Telecommunication & Post Commission (EETT) announces the
official text of the Directive 2008/6/EC as it was published in the European Community’s Official
Journal L52 of 27.02.2008.
1.
The purpose of the Directive is to open EU postal markets fully to competition by
2010.
2. The Directive
aims to:
• achieve an internal market for postal services through the removal of exclusive and
special rights in the postal sector (the abolition of the reserved area) and the setting of the
full market opening timetable;
• safeguard a common level of universal services for users in all EU countries,
and offer a list of measures Member States may take to safeguard and finance, if necessary,
the universal service.
3. Accordingly, the Directive
establishes common
rules concerning:
• the conditions governing the provision of postal services,
• the provision of a universal postal service within the Community,
• the financing of universal services under conditions that guarantee the permanent
provision of such services,
• tariff principles and transparency of accounts for universal service provision,
• the setting of quality standards for universal service provision and the setting-up
of a system to ensure compliance with those standards,
• the harmonisation of technical standards,
• the creation of independent national regulatory authorities.
4.
Dates for market opening: the deadline for market opening is 31 December 2010. The
12 Member States that acceded in 2004 or later, as well as Member States with a particularly
difficult topography, have an additional two years to open the market (31 December 2012).
5.
Role of national regulatory authorities: National regulatory authorities are able
to be provided with all necessary resources, in terms of staffing, expertise and financial means,
for the performance of their tasks, such as ensuring compliance with the obligations arising from
the Directive as well as ensuring compliance with competition rules in the postal sector.
The New Directive document is available at EETT’s website:
http://www.eett.gr/Regulatory Framework/EETT Decisions/Postal Services Regulatory
Framework/European Regulation/Directive 2008/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
amending Directive 97/67/EC
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