Key Benefits:
The Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority,
In view of Directive 97 /67/EC of 15 December 1997 concerning common rules for the Development of the internal market in Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service;
In view of Directive 2002/39/EC of 10 June 2002 amending Directive 97 /67/EC as regards the pursuit of opening up to Competition from Community postal services;
Given the postal code and electronic communications, and in particular Articles L. 4 and L. 5-2 (5 °);
Having regard to Article 2 (2) of Law No. 90-568 of 2 July 1990 on The organisation of the public service of La Poste and France Télécom;
Having regard to the memorandum of agreement State-Presse-La Poste of 22 July 2004;
Having regard to the dossier describing the rate developments of the services offered for the public service of The transport and distribution of the press for the year 2007, received on 19 December 2006;
Given the document entitled " Meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the State-Press-La Poste Agreement Prepared for the meeting of December 22, 2006;
After Deliberate on 21 December 2006,
Pursuant to Article L. 5-2 (5 °) of the Electronic Communications and Postal Code, the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority " Issues a public opinion on the economic aspects The tariffs referred to in the second subparagraph of Article L. 4, prior to their approval by the ministers responsible for posts and the economy ". The tariffs referred to in the second subparagraph of Article L. 4 shall be the rates of the services offered to the press in respect of the public transport and distribution service of the press, and subject to the specific rules laid down in the code of posts and Electronic communications. The tariff structure of these benefits is designed to promote pluralism, including political and general information.
In 2002, in order to redefine the framework of relations between press publishers and La Poste, the Government entrusted Mr Henri Paul, a master adviser at the Court of Auditors, with a mission which led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 22 July 2004. In order to allow the parties a medium-term visibility, the agreement covers a period of four years, which runs from 2005 to 2008, during which La Poste progresses towards the coverage of the costs of the transport and distribution of the press, control Its expenses, in particular its cost of process and structure, and reduces the deficit attributable to the activity.
The Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts has been given notice of the description of tariff developments Envisaged by La Poste for the year 2007. This folder includes information for evaluating the variation of rates, as well as changes to the corresponding offer.
I. -Submission of the tariff proposal
The tariff proposal submitted by La Poste au Minister responsible for posts (CEO) is concerned with the evolution of the rates of the press and is therefore part of the overall framework of the Paul agreement:
(a) Evolution of the rates applicable to newspapers and periodicals in the internal regime (consignments Press);
(b) Tariff developments of so-called products " Assimilated " (other offers from La Poste to the press):
-the so-called products " Press Plus " (promotional items, whether editorial or non-editorial, intended for the subscriber and inserted in the shipment Of main publication);
-the " Other periodical prints " Or " AIP " (publications with a frequency of publication defined, derogating from the criteria of the Joint Committee on Publications and Press Agencies but benefiting from a Specific rate);
-the " Facsimiles " (Released versions of a publication, addressed to prospects and accompanied by a subscription offer).
The Authority's opinion deals only with news items (a).
II. -Evolution of the rates applicable to periodical newspapers and periodicals in the internal regime
La Poste has changed its fee schedule according to the provisions of the Paul Agreement, from the point of view of its structure As regards its revaluation and indexing.
II-1. Structure of the fee schedule
Press publishers may choose, depending on the characteristics of their publications, according to their distribution policy and their technical capacity to prepare and transport Their shipments, from the various terms of the basic offer and from the proposed options.
Basic rates
The basic rates of benefits offered by La Poste under the Public service for the transport and distribution of the press are defined according to:
-emergency level:
-Urgent press (delivery in J/J + 1);
-Non-emergency press (delivery in J + 4);
-Economic press (delivery in J + 7);
-level of preparation of shipments:
- " Direct Case Liasse " : constitution of 6 copies (this number can be reduced to 4 or 5 if the bundle weighs at least 400 g) by factor tour number;
- " Direct Link Postal Code " : set up of 6 minimum copies per postal code (this number may be reduced to 4 or 5 if the bundle weighs at least 800 g);
- " Department to Sort " : constitution of liasses of 6 Copies (this number may be reduced to 4 or 5 on the condition that the bundle weighs at least 800 g) and 8 kg maximum (6 kg for film liasses) by the mail processing centre (sorting yard) by mail processing centre when The number of copies per side is insufficient;
- " All France to sort " : printed copies in a routed file, simple computer sequencing of the copies according to the postal code for small files or unrouted files;
-whether or not the press product is mechanisable: compliance or technical specifications.
The tariff schedule is based on the tariff of the " Direct Link Postal Code " Which is the central rate. The coefficients for 2007 are as follows:
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Options
Press releases can access one or more options for obtaining discounts. Five options will be implemented by La Poste in 2007:
-early filing: deposits made, on a regular basis, at least three hours before the deadline for filing (urgent, non-daily press);
-deposit-in-day deposit: Mondays and Tuesdays (press and economic rate press);
-Sorting Center (Destination Mail Processing Center): Delivery of all traffic on a destination mail processing center, for totality Copies distributed over the geographical area served by this centre;
-delivery to the distribution centre (Destination distribution establishment): delivery, in a distribution establishment included in the specifications, of The entirety of the traffic destined for the distribution area served by this establishment;
-low-day distribution: distribution of shipments on Tuesday (urgent non-daily press).
The tariff with option is calculated from the Same level of non-option preparation, expressed in base 100. The scale proposed by La Poste for 2007 is as follows:
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II-2. Upgrading and indexing of the fee schedule
The fee schedule was updated as of July 1, 2004, by application of the evolution of the price index for services. For each of the following years, the Paul agreement provides an indexed discount on the consumer price index. As such, La Poste applies a revaluation of 1.99 % corresponding to the annual evolution of this index, measured between June 2005 (111, 3) and June 2006 (111.51).
The Paul agreement also provides for a gradual recovery plan. In this capacity, La Poste applies in 2007 on the central rate of the " Direct Link Postal Code " :
-an increase of 5 % for the urgent press service;
-a 2.5 % increase for the non-emergency press service;
-an increase of 1.25 % for the Economic press service.
III. -Tariff developments of the so-called products' Assimilated "
Next to the services offered to the press in the context of its specific scheme, and which are the subject of this opinion, La Poste markets a range of products known as" Assimilated " Which are subject to different pricing. The Paul deal explicitly envisages two products: the " Other periodical prints " And the " Facsimile ", for which it gives a tariff schedule and defines the principle of indexing, beyond the increase of 1 January 2005, on The non-tobacco consumer price index. The Post also mentions in its tariff proposal the products referred to as " Press plus " Whose rates were not attached to the agreements.
III-1. The Products " Presse Plus "
La Poste revalues products" Press Plus " 2.37 %, which is equal to the annual change measured between June 2005 (114, 6) and June 2006 (117.32) of the Service Price Index.
III-2. The " Other periodic printouts "
La Poste revalues" Other periodical prints " Up to 5.0 % for the rate " Urgent " And 2.5 % for the price " Not Urgent ".
III-3. The " Facsimiles "
Once again, as in 2005, when it decided to change pricing for" Facsimiles " As from 1 January 2006, making it derive from that of the Non-Urgent Press, with four Levels of preparation, La Poste introduced, in addition to a recovery, a change in its offer by proposing two benefits:
-the facsimile " Standard ", associated with a J + 4 distribution, in which the advertising surface for the Promotion of the subscription must be less than 25 % of the total area;
-the facsimile Freedom ", associated with a distribution in J + 7, in which the advertising area for the promotion of the subscription must be less than 50 % of the Total area.
The introduction of the new offer results in an average price change over 2006 of 5.89 % for the range " Standard " And 6.87 % for the range " Freedom ".
IV. -Analysis of the Authority
Under Article L. 5-2 (4 °), the analysis of the Authority covers " Economic aspects " Press rates; as such, the Authority shall not rule on compliance with the provisions of the Article L. 4, under which the tariff structure is to " To foster pluralism ". Nor does it take a position on the development of assimilated products.
However, the Authority considers that the pricing of the press consignments should, in the long term, reflect the costs: in accordance with Article L. 2 of the Postal Code and of the Electronic communications, periodical consignments are part of the universal postal service, one of the features of which is to present transparent, affordable and cost-oriented tariffs (Directive 97 /67/EC, recital 26 and article 12). It observes that this objective is one of the objectives of the Paul Agreements, since the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, the evolution of the postal rates of the press " Be able to progressively cover the costs of the activity, with differentiation More pronounced between urgent and less urgent services, and between the different levels of preparations made by publishers and their providers " (page 3). It also observes that the fee structure developed in this framework makes an important part of the arrangements for passing on to users the costs avoided taking into account the level of preparation of the consignments, and the conditions of their Filing.
On the implementation of the Paul agreements, the Authority observes that the 2007 tariff schedule submitted by La Poste is in conformity with the agreements:
1 ° The recovery implemented is that provided for by the agreement (Table 1 in the Annex);
2 ° The coefficients for the modulation of the rates provided for in the agreements for the year 2007 have been taken into account (Table 2 in the Annex), as well as those applicable to the options (Table 3 in the Annex); the implementation by La Poste in 2007 of the options Allowing press releases to obtain discounts is in accordance with the provisional timetable for implementation contained in the agreement;
3 ° The recovery of 1.99 % decided by La Poste corresponds effectively to the annual development of the index Tobacco-free consumer prices between June 2005 and June 2006.
V. -Conclusion
The evolution, proposed by La Poste for the year 2007, of the postal rates applicable to the benefits offered to the Title of the public transport and distribution service of the press ensures compliance with the Agreement Status-Presse-La Poste of 24 July 2004 concerning the evolution of the rates applicable to periodical newspapers and writings in the regime
The Authority shall deliver a favourable opinion on the evolution of these tariffs.
This notice shall be sent to the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and to the Minister for Industry. It will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done at Paris, December 21, 2006.
A N N E X E
Table 1
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Table 2
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n ° 43 of 20/02/2007 text number 110
Table 3
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The President,
P. Champsaur
