In the elephant but not ruled by the elephant

Yesterdays Queen’s Speech made it clear that the UK coalition government is gearing up to push through reform of the Royal Mail in the form of part-privatisation.

The Postal Services Bill, drawn up by the previous Labour government following research and recommendations by Richard Hooper, is to be resurrected as part of a range of bills proposed by the new coalition government.



But here is the real story.

It was back in 2006 that the EU commissioner for the internal market, at the time Charlie McCreevy, told Member State governments across the European Union that they must scrap their monopoly on delivering letters by 2009.

EU Directives for the regulation of Royal Mail

Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 (came into force in February 1998)

Directive 2002/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 amending Directive 97/67/EC

Directive 2008/6/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 20 February 2008 amending the initial Postal Directive 97/67/EC as amended by Directive 2002/39/EC

Prior to the implementation of the 1997 European Union Directive, the UK postal service sector was governed by the Post Office Acts of 1953 and 1969 and the Telecommunications Act 1981. This legislation set out the responsibilities of the British Government towards postal services and gave the Post Office its powers and duties.

The Postal Services Act 2000 (PSA) implemented the 1997 European Union Directive in the UK. Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 3050 amended the PSA to take account of the changes required by the 2002 European Union Directive.