Key Benefits:
The Autorité de régulation des communications électronique et des postes,
In light of amended 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;
Considering the post and electronic communications code, including articles L. 4 and L. 5-2;
See?Article 2, paragraph 2, of Act No. 90-568 of 2 July 1990 amended on the organization of the public service of La Poste and France Télécom;
Considering the State/press/poste Memorandum of Understanding of 23 July 2008;
Having regard to the file describing the tariff changes in the public service delivery and distribution of the press for the year 2011, received from La Poste on 14 October 2010;
After deliberating on 16 November,
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 January 2008, the government entrusted Mr.Marc Schwartz with a task of reflection and proposal regarding the delivery of press subscriptions by postage or by porting.
This mission led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 23 July 2008. This agreement covering a seven-year period from January 2009 to December 2015 is part of an objective of information pluralism and takes into account the full openness to the competition of the postal market as of January 1, 2011.
The Schwartz Agreements of 23 July 2008 set a tariff revalorization plan based on annual increases; increases are identical for all emergency levels, but the agreement provides a different path for political and general information publications on the one hand, and for newspapers with low advertising resources on the other.
In January 2009, in the general press states, emergency measures were announced by the government to overcome the effects of the crisis on the press. Thus, the State decided to neutralize the effects of the tariff increases of the postal subscription of the press for the year 2009. To implement this one-year report, La Poste adapted its billing system; the invoices were established at the 2009 rates of the "Swartz agreements" with a discount that allows to reduce the total price to be paid at the level that would have been due in 2008 on equivalent deposits. This report did not have an impact on La Poste's press account because the state compensated La Poste's loss of profits.
In 2010, the system was extended. The rates paid by the press publishers have increased but they remain below the scale set out in the Schwartz agreements. The 2010 rates are the result of the application of the increases initially planned for 2009 (+ 3% for the titles allowed to benefit from the Joint Commission of Publications and Press Agencies (CPPAP) regime, excluding political and general information press (PIPG) and daily newspapers with low resources and small ads (QFRP), + 2% for the political and general information press and + 1.5% for low-income and small-advertised newspapers) La Poste's loss of profits remains compensated by the state.
The Authority for the regulation of electronic communications and postings received the description of the tariff developments envisaged by La Poste for the year 2011. 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 Schwartz Agreements, both in terms of its structure and in terms of its revalorization and indexation. The structure of the tariff grid is defined according to the emergency level, the level of consignment preparation and options.
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": construction of liasses of 6 minimum copies per postal code (this number may 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 with respect to the technical specifications issued by La Poste.
The tariff grid is developed from the "direct postal code bundle" tariff that is the pivotal tariff. The coefficients to be applied for 2011 are as follows:
| Direct line code costal | 100.0 |
| Direct fat factor | 90.5 |
| Mechanical sorting department | 117.6 |
| Non-mechanical sorting department | 122.4 |
| All France to trier mecanisable | 161.7 |
| All France to trier non mecanisable | 168.3 |
Options
Press shipments can access one or more options to get discounts. 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 (non-emergency press and economic tariff press);
― 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 2011 is as follows:
| Early deposit (except daily press) | 98.0 |
| Deposit in hollow day | 98.0 |
| Delivery to CTC/PPDC | 97.0 |
| Delivery in destination distribution facility CDIS/PDC | 95.0 |
| Daily distribution (out of daily press) | 98.0 |
I-2. Re-adjustment of the tariff grid
The "Swartz Agreements" provide for an update of the tariff grid on a tariff revalorization path and inflation. For the generality of the securities admitted to the CPPAP regime, a 4.0% revalorization will be applied to the rates of each of the three emergency levels in addition to the price changes of 1.43 per cent, the value of the Consumer Price Index on Tobacco between June 2009 (118.27) and June 2010 (119.96). An overall 5.5% increase will be applied to the pivotal rate of the "direct postal code mass". For the political and general information press and low-resource daily newspapers and small advertisements, tariff revalorizations will be 3.0 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively, representing overall increases of 4.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent on the pivotal rate, taking inflation into account.
II. ― Analysis of the Authority
The Authority has reviewed the compliance of the press tariffs under the "Swartz Agreements" and notes that the 2011 tariff grid transmitted by La Poste complies with the following:
1° The revalorization implemented is the one provided by the Schwartz Agreements (Table 1 in the annex), especially for the rates of the "direct postal code bundle" forming the pivotal tariff for the securities allowed for the benefit of the CPPAP regime (Table 2 in the annex);
2° The rates modulation coefficients for the year 2011 were taken into account (Table 3 in Appendix), as well as those for options (Table 4 in Appendix);
3° The increase of 1.43 per cent associated with inflation effectively corresponds to the annual evolution of the Non-Smoking Consumer Price Index between June 2009 and June 2010.
According to Article L. 5-2 (5°) of the Post and Electronic Communications Code, the analysis of the Authority covers the "economic aspects" of the press tariffs.
In this context, the Autorité considers that the pricing of press consignments should, in the long term, reflect the costs, with the supplement provided by the aid of the State whose purpose is to be due to the specific obligation to "facilitate pluralism, especially that of political and general information". Indeed, under Article L. 2 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code, the delivery of periodical shipments falls 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). The Authority notes that this objective is one of the "Schwartz Agreements": "the combination of the reduction of postal costs, tariff measures and the financial contribution of the State, as provided for in this Protocol, should cover, at the end of the agreement, the full costs attributable to the press". This objective is necessary to ensure that the prices of press consignments transmit an economically relevant signal to the entire market.
The Autorité notes that the tariff trajectory programmed by the "Schwartz Agreements" is maintained, but is one year for publishers. The Autorité notes that this shift was neutral for the La Poste press account in 2009 and 2010, thanks to compensation paid by the State.
In the light of the information contained in the La Poste tariff file and the inclusion in the 2011 finance bill of 26.5 million euros, in addition to the annual subsidy of 242 million euros in the "Swartz agreements", the Autorité understands that the same mechanism could be implemented in 2011.
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This notice will be forwarded to the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and to the Minister to the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, responsible for industry, energy and the digital economy. It will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, November 16, 2010.
A N N E X E
TABLE 1
| CPPAP regime (Country Publications and Press Agencies Commission) | + 3% | + 3.5 per cent | + 4% | + 4.5 per cent | + 5% | + 5% | + 5% |
| Political and general information press | + 2% | + 2.5% | + 3% | + 3% | + 3.5 per cent | + 3.5 per cent | + 3.5 per cent |
| Quotidians with low advertising resources and classified ads | + 1.5 per cent | + 1.5 per cent | + 1.5 per cent | + 1.5 per cent | + 1.5 per cent | + 1.5 per cent | + 1.5 per cent |
TABLE 2
| Direct dial postal code | 0.2395 € | 1,0958 € | 0,1854 € | 0,8464 € | 0,1765 € | 0,8060 € |
TABLE 3
| Level of preparation: "direct mass postal code" | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Level of preparation: "direct mass factor" compared to "direct mass postal code" | 91.5 | 91 | 90.5 | 90 | 8.5 | 89 | 89 |
| Level of preparation: "mechanical sorting department" compared to "direct code postal" | 117.6 | 117.6 | 117.6 | 117.6 | 118.3 | 119.1 | 119.1 |
| Level of preparation: "Non-mechanical sorting department" | 122.4 | 122.4 | 122.4 | 122.4 | 123.1 | 123.9 | 123.9 |
| Level of preparation: "every France to sort mechanized" compared to "direct code postal" | 161.7 | 161.7 | 161.7 | 161.7 | 162.4 | 163.2 | 163.2 |
| Level of preparation: "all France to sort non-mechanical" compared to "direct code postal" | 168.3 | 168.3 | 168.3 | 168.30 | 169.0 | 169.8 | 169.8 |
TABLE 4
| 1. Deposit options: | | | |
| ― early deposit (emergency press out of daily press) | 98.0 | 98.0 | 98.0 |
| ― hollow day deposit (press and economic press) | 98.0 | 98.0 | 98.0 |
| 2. Transport options: | | | |
| ― delivery destination mail processing center or PPDC | 98.5 | 98.0 | 97.0 |
| – delivery to CDIS/PDC destination distribution facility | 97.0 | 96.0 | 95.0 |
| 3. Distribution option: | | | |
| ― hollow day distribution (emergency press out of daily press) | 98.0 | 98.0 | 98.5 |
The president,
J.-L. Silicani
