Key Benefits:
The Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority,
In view of Directive 97 /67/EC of 15 December 1997 Amended concerning the common rules for the development of the internal market in Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service;
In view of the postal code and electronic communications (hereinafter CPCE), and In particular Articles L. 4 and L. 5-2;
Having regard to the memorandum of understanding State/Press/Position of 23 July 2008;
Having regard to the dossier describing the rate developments of the services offered for the public transport and distribution service of the Press for the year 2013, transmitted by the Directorate-General for Competitiveness, of Industry and services October 29, 2012;
After deliberation on November 20, 2012,
I. -Background
Pursuant to Article L. 5 (2) of the CPCE, the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority ("the Authority") " Shall issue a public opinion on the economic aspects of 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 a specific scheme provided for by the CPCE. The tariff structure of these benefits is intended to promote pluralism, including political and general information.
In January 2008, the Government entrusted Mr. Marc Schwartz with a mission of reflection and proposal Concerning the routing of press subscriptions by direct mail or carriage, which led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 23 July 2008. The " "Schwartz Agreements", which cover a seven-year period from January 2009 to December 2015, stop a tariff recovery plan based on annual increments. These agreements are intended for all publications admitted to the benefit of the Joint Committee on Publications and Press Agencies (CPPAP) regime, but provide for a different trajectory for the publications of political information and In
2009, during the general press reports, emergency measures were announced by the Government in order to overcome the effects of the crisis On the press. Thus, the State has decided to neutralise the effects of the tariff increases in the press postal subscription for the year 2009. To implement this one-year deferral, La Poste has adapted its billing system; invoices have been set at the 2009 prices of the Schwartz agreements with a discount that allows the total price to be paid at the level that would have been due in 2008 on Equivalent deposits. This delay had no impact on the press account of La Poste because the state compensated for the shortfall suffered by La Poste.
In 2010, 2011 and 2012, this feature was extended. As a result, the rates paid by press publishers have increased, but they remain below the scale set out in the Schwartz Agreements. The rates applied do not include the inflation rate normally applicable in 2009 (+ 3.27 %) and are offset by a one-year lag compared to the trajectory of the Schwartz agreements. However, the shortfall suffered by La Poste remains offset by the State.
The Authority has received for its opinion the description of the tariff developments envisaged by La Poste for the year 2013. This file includes information to evaluate the variation of the rates applicable to periodical newspapers and periodicals in the domestic regime (press releases).
II. -Revaluation of the tariff schedule
The Schwartz agreements provide for a revaluation of the tariff schedule according to a set course of tariff developments and inflation. In respect of securities admitted for the benefit of the SCAP regime, a recovery of 5.0 % will be applied to the prices of each of the three emergency levels in addition to the 1.87 % price change, the value of the annual price index Tobacco consumption measured between June 2011 (122.49) and June 2012 (124.78). The overall increase of 7.0 % will thus be applied to the central rate of the " Direct binding postal code ". With regard to the political and general information press and the low-resource dailies and classified ads, the tariff revaluations will rise to 3.5 % and 1.5 % respectively, i.e. overall increases of 5.4 % and 3.4 % on the tariff
The rates applicable according to the emergency levels, the degree of preparation of the consignments, the mechanisable or non-mechanisable nature of the press product in relation to the technical specifications issued by La Poste and the Available options are derived from the application of the coefficients shown in Appendix.
III. -Analysis of the Authority
The Authority has examined the compliance of the press rates under the Schwartz Agreements and observes that the transmitted tariff schedule 2013 is in conformity:
1 ° The recovery implemented is the one planned By the Schwartz Agreements (Table 1 in the Annex), in particular for the tariffs of the " Direct binding postal code " Constituting the central tariff for the securities admitted to the CPPAP scheme (Table 2 in the Annex);
2 ° The coefficients for the modulation of the rates provided for in the agreements for the year 2013 have been taken into account (Table 3 in the Annex) and Those applicable to the options (Table 4 in the annex);
3 ° The 1.87 % revaluation associated with inflation is in fact the annual change in the price index for non-tobacco consumption between June 2011 and June 2012
From the 5 ° of Article L. 5-2 of the CECP, the analysis of the Authority shall cover " Economic aspects " In
context, the Authority considers that the pricing of the press consignments should, in the long term, reflect the costs, with the additional assistance provided by the State whose raison d' être is the specific obligation of " Fostering pluralism, including political and general information." Indeed, pursuant to Article L. 2 of the CPCE, the carriage of consignments of periodicals is part of the universal postal service, one of which is to present transparent, affordable and cost-oriented tariffs (Directive 97 /67/EC, Recital 26 and Article 12). The Authority observes that this objective is one of the objectives 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 make it possible to cover, at the end of the agreement, the full costs attributable to the press ". This objective is necessary in order for the rates of the press shipments to transmit an economically relevant signal to the entire market.
The Authority notes that the tariff trajectory programmed by the Schwartz Agreements is maintained, but A one-year lag for publishers. The Authority notes that this discrepancy was neutral for the press account of La Poste in 2009, 2010 and 2011, thanks to compensation paid by the State.
In the light of the information contained in the file transmitted by the Directorate-General for the Competitiveness, industry and services and the inclusion in the 2013 budget bill of a sum of EUR 32 million, in addition to the annual subsidy of EUR 217 million provided for in the Schwartz agreements, the Authority includes The same mechanism could be implemented in 2013.
This notice will be forwarded to the Minister of Economy and Finance, the Minister for Productive Recovery and the Associate Minister responsible for SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy. It will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic and on the Authority's website.
Done at Paris, 20 November 2012.
A N N E X E
Table 1
| Regime CPPAP (Joint Committee on Publications and News Agencies) | + 3 % | + 3.5 % | + 4 % | + 4.5 % | + 5 % | + 5 % | + 5 % |
| Policy and General Information Presse | + 2 % | + 2.5 % | + 3 % | + 3 % | + 3.5 % | + 3.5 % | + 3.5 % |
| Daily low ad resources and ads | + 1.5 % | + 1.5 % | + 1.5 % | + 1.5 % | + 1.5 % | + 1.5 % | + 1.5 % |
Table 2
| Direct Code Link Postal | 0,2732 | 1,2501 | 0,2115 | 0,9656 | 0,2013 | 0,9195 |
Table 3
| Readiness level: " Direct mail code " | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Readiness level: " Direct binding factor " In relation to " Direct mail code " | 91.5 | 91 | 90.5 | 90 | 89.5 | 89 | 89 |
| Readiness level: " Mechanisable sorting department " In relation to " Direct mail code " | 117.6 | 117.6 | 117.6 | 117.6 | 118,3 | 119.1 | 119.1 |
| Readiness level: " Non-mechanisable sorting department " In relation to " Direct mail code " | 122.4 | 122.4 | 122.4 | 122.4 | 123.1 | 123.9 | 123.9 |
| Readiness level: " Any France to sort mechanically " In relation to " Direct mail code " | 161.7 | 161.7 | 161.7 | 161.7 | 162.4 | 163.2 | 163.2 |
| Readiness level: " Any non-mechanisable sorting France " In relation to " Direct mail code " | 168.3 | 168.3 | 168.3 | 168.3 | 169 | 169.8 | 169.8 |
Table 4
| 1. Depot options: | | | |
| -early deposition (emergency outside the daily press) | 98 | 98 | 98 |
| -low day deposit (press and economy rate press) | 98 | 98 | 98 |
| 2. Transportation Options: | | | |
| -destination mail processing center or PPDC | 98.5 | Align="center"> 98 | 97 |
| -CDIS/PDC destination distribution delivery | 97 | 96 | 95 |
| 3. Distribution option: | | | |
| -sparse day distribution (emergency press outside the daily press) | 98 | 98 | 98.5 |
The President,
J.-L. Silicani
