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Opinion No. 2007 - 1141 Of The Regulatory Authority For Electronic Communications And Posts As Of 18 December 2007 On The Tariff Proposal Of La Poste On The Evolution Of Postal Rates Of The Benefits Available Under The Be...

Original Language Title: Avis n° 2007-1141 de l'Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes en date du 18 décembre 2007 sur la proposition tarifaire de La Poste relative à l'évolution des tarifs postaux des prestations offertes au titre du se...

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JORF no.0024 of 29 January 2008
text No. 75



Notice No. 2007-1141 of the Electronic Communications and Post Regulatory Authority dated 18 December 2007 on the tariff proposal of La Poste relating to the evolution of the postal tariffs of the services offered under the public service for the transport and distribution of the press for the year 2008

NOR: ARTR0700152V ELI: Not available



The Autorité de régulation des communications électronique et des postes,
Considering Directive 97/67/EC of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the Community's domestic market for postal services and the improvement of the quality of service;
In light of Directive 2002/39/EC of 10 June 2002 amending Directive 97/67/EC with regard to the continued openness to competition of the Community's postal services;
Having regard to the code of posts and electronic communications, including articles L. 4 and L. 5-2 (5°);
See?Article 2, paragraph 2, of Act No. 90-568 of 2 July 1990 concerning the organization of the public service of La Poste and France Télécom;
Considering the State/Press/Poste Memorandum of Understanding of 22 July 2004;
Having regard to the file describing the tariff changes in the public service delivery and distribution of the press for the year 2008, received on 26 November 2007;
In view of the document entitled "State/Press Agreement/La Poste. Annual Review Meeting » prepared for the November 14, 2007 meeting;
After deliberating on 18 December 2007,
Pursuant to Article L. 5-2 (5°) of the Post and Electronic Communications Code, the Electronic Communications and Post Regulatory Authority " issues a public opinion on the economic aspects of the tariffs referred to in the second paragraph of Article L. 4, prior to their approval by the ministers responsible for the posts and the economy". The rates referred to in the second paragraph of Article L. 4 are the rates of public service services to the press for the transport and distribution of the press, and subject to the specific regime provided for in the postal and electronic communications code. The objective of these benefits is to promote pluralism, including political and general information.
In 2002, in order to redefine the framework for relations between the press publishers and La Poste, the Government entrusted Mr.Henri Paul, Senior Advisor to the Court of Accounts, a mission that led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 22 July 2004. In order to allow the parties to have medium-term visibility, the agreement covers a four-year period, which extends from 2005 to 2008, during which La Poste moves towards the coverage of the costs of the transport and distribution of the press, manages its expenses, in particular its process and structure costs, and reduces the deficit attributable to the activity.
The Electronic Communications and Post Regulatory Authority has received for notice the description of the tariff developments envisaged by La Poste for the year 2008, which will mark the end of the Paul agreement. This file includes information to assess the variation in the rates for newspapers and periodical writings in the domestic regime (press releases).


I. ― Trends in newspaper tariffs
and written in the domestic system


The Post changed its tariff grid in accordance with the provisions of the Paul Agreement, both from the point of view of its structure and with respect to its revalorization and indexation.


I-1. Structure of the tariff grid


Press publishers may choose, according to the characteristics of their publications, according to their dissemination policy and according to their technical capacity to prepare and transport their shipments, among the different terms of the basic offer and among the options proposed.


Basic rates


The basic rates for the services offered by La Poste under the public service for the transport and distribution of the press are determined by:
- emergency level:
urgent press (book in J/J + 1);
- non-urgent press (booking in J + 4);
economic press (book in J + 7).
the degree of consignment preparation:
― "direct mass factor": constitution of 6 copies (this number may be reduced to 4 or 5 provided that the bundle weighs at least 400 g) per factor tour number;
― "direct liasse postal code": constitution of liasses of 6 minimum copies per postal code (this number can be reduced to 4 or 5 provided that the liasse weighs at least 800 g);
― "department to be sorted": constitution of 6 copies (this number can be reduced to 4 or 5 provided that the bundle weighs at least 800 g) and 8 kg maximum (6 kg for the liars under film) per side (trigger) of mail processing centre, by mail processing centre where the number of copies per side is insufficient;
― "every France to sort": copies embed in a route file, simple computer sequence of copies according to the postal code for small files or non-red files;
– the mechanic or non-mechanical character of the press product: whether or not the technical specifications are met.
The tariff grid is developed from the "direct postal code bundle" tariff, which is the pivotal tariff. The coefficients for 2008 are as follows:


MODALITY
COEFFICIENT

Direct letter postal code.

100,00

Direct weight.

92,00

Department to trier mechanized.

117.6

Non-mechanical sorting department.

122.4

All of France to sort mechanics.

161.7

All of France to sort non-mechanical.

168.3


Options


Press shipments can access one or more options to get discounts. As in 2007, five options are available:
― advance deposit: deposit made, on a regular basis, at least three hours before deposit time (emergency press, off-to-day);
― hollow day deposit: deposit made on Mondays and Tuesdays (press and press at economic rate);
― delivery to the sorting centre ( destination mail processing centre): delivery of the entire traffic to a destination mail processing centre, for all copies distributed on the geographic area served by this centre;
― delivery to the distribution centre ( destination distribution establishment): delivery, in a distribution establishment listed in the terms of reference, of the entire traffic intended for the distribution area served by that establishment;
― hollow day distribution: distribution of consignments on Tuesday (emergency press off-to-day).
The optional fare is calculated from the rate of the same non-optional preparation level, expressed in base 100. The scale proposed by La Poste for 2008 is as follows:


OPTIONS
VALORISATION

Early deposit.

98.0

Drop in a hollow day.

98.0

Delivery in sort center.

99.0

Delivery in distribution center.

98.0

Distribution in hollow day.

98.0


I-2. Revalorization and indexation of the tariff grid


The tariff grid was updated as of 1 July 2004 following the evolution of the service price index. The Paul agreement provides, for each of the following years, an indexed update on the tobacco price index. As such, La Poste applies an increase of 1.22 per cent to the annual evolution of this index, measured between June 2006 (113.51) and June 2007 (114.90).
The Paul agreement also provides for a progressive revalorization plan. As such, La Poste applied in 2008 on the pivotal rate of the "direct postal code mass":
– an increase of 6% for the urgent press service;
– an increase of 3% for non-urgent press service;
– a 1.5 per cent increase in economic press service.


II. ― Analysis of the Authority


The Authority does not decide on compliance with the provisions of Article L. 4, under which the tariff structure must "promote pluralism". It notes that specific provisions define the publications concerned (articles D. 18 et seq. of the Post and Electronic Communications Code) and the financing of the corresponding mission (La Poste Public Service Organization Act of 2 July 1990).
According to article L. 5-2 (4°), the Autorité's analysis focuses on the "economic aspects" of the press tariffs.
In this context, the Authority considers that the pricing of press consignments should, in the long term, reflect the costs: under Article L.2 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code, periodical consignments fall under the universal postal service, one of which is to present transparent, affordable and cost-oriented tariffs (directive 97/67/EC, considering 26 and article 12). This objective is, moreover, among those of the Paul agreement, the evolution of the postal tariffs of the press "[before] allow to gradually cover the costs of the activity, with a greater differentiation between the urgent and less urgent services, and between the different levels of preparation carried out by the publishers and their providers" (page 3 of the memorandum of understanding).
At this stage, the Authority has only examined the conformity of the press tariffs under the Paul Agreement and observes that the 2008 tariff grid transmitted by La Poste is in conformity with it:
1° The revalorization implemented is the one provided by the agreement (Table 1 in Appendix);
2° The rate modulation coefficients provided by the agreements for 2008 have been taken into account (Table 2 in Appendix), as well as those applicable to options (Table 3 in Appendix);
3° The revalorization of 1.22 % decided by La Poste effectively corresponds to the annual evolution of the Non-Smoking Consumer Price Index between June 2006 and June 2007.


III. – Conclusion


The evolution, proposed by La Poste for the year 2008, of the postal tariffs applicable to the services offered under the public service for the transport and distribution of the press, ensures compliance with the State/Press/Poste agreement of 24 July 2004 regarding the evolution of the tariffs applicable to newspapers and periodical writings in the domestic system.
The Autorité issues an opinion favourable to the evolution of these rates. She also continues her work to have relevant references to assess the economy of La Poste's services to the press.
This notice will be forwarded to the Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment and to the Minister Delegate to Industry. It will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, 18 December 2007.

  • Annex



    A N N E X E
    Table 1



    YEARS
    PRESSE URGENTE
    (J/J + 1)
    PRESSE NON URGENTE
    (J + 4)
    ECONOMIC PRESSE
    (J + 7)

    2005

    + 4%

    + 2%

    + 1%

    2006

    + 5%

    + 2.5%

    + 1.25 %

    2007

    + 5%

    + 2.5%

    + 1.25 %

    2008

    + 6 per cent

    + 3%

    + 1.5 per cent


    Table 2




    MODALITIES
    2005
    2006
    2007
    2008

    1. Economic press service (J + 7): compared to press service J + 4 (100).

    99.0

    97,8

    96.6

    95.2

    2a. Level of preparation: "every France to sort mechanized" compared to "direct code postal".

    149.25

    153.45

    157.60

    161.70

    2b. Level of preparation: "every France to sort non-mechanical" compared to "direct liasse postal code".

    150.75

    156.55

    162.40

    168.30

    3a. Level of preparation: "mechanical sorting department" compared to "direct code postal".

    117.61

    117.61

    117.61

    117.60

    3b. Preparation level: "Non-mechanical sorting department".

    118.79

    119,99

    121.19

    122.40

    4. Level of preparation: "direct mass postal code".

    100

    100

    100

    100

    5. Level of preparation: "direct mass factor" compared to "direct mass postal code".

    95

    94

    93

    92


    Table 3




    OPTIONS
    2005
    2006
    2007
    2008

    1. Deposit options:
    ― early deposit (emergency press out of daily press)

    9.5

    99.0

    98.5

    98.0

    ― hollow day deposit (press and economical press)

    9.5

    99.0

    98.5

    98.0

    2. Transport options:
    ― delivery destination mail processing center

    9.5

    9.5

    99.0

    99.0

    - delivery destination distribution facility

    99.0

    99.0

    98.0

    98.0

    3. Distribution option:
    ― hollow day distribution (emergency press out of daily press)

    9.5

    99.0

    98.5

    98.0


The president,

P. Champsaur


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