Inbreukprocedure tegen Slowakije in verband met vrije postmarkt (en)

IP/09/1632

Brussels, 29 th October 2009

Antitrust: Commission steps up infringement procedure against Slovakia for not implementing Commission hybrid mail decision

The European Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Slovakia requiring it to implement a Commission decision on hybrid mail. A reasoned opinion is the second step in infringement proceedings under Article 226 of the EC Treaty. In 2008, the Commission had found Slovakia's remonopolisation of the hybrid mail sector to be incompatible with the Single Market and had ordered Slovakia to end the infringement (see IP/08/1467 ). To date, Slovakia has not informed the Commission of any measures to implement the Commission's decision. The 2008 Decision has binding and direct effect and is directly enforceable by national courts. The reasoned opinion follows a letter of formal notice sent in December 2008 (see IP/08/1997 ), to which Slovakia has provided no satisfactory reply. Slovakia now has two months to comply with the reasoned opinion, failing which the Commission may bring the matter to the European Court of Justice.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes i said: "Slovakia's failure to end the infringement more than a year after our decision should not deprive private operators of the effects of that decision. Indeed, in the meantime, private operators can rely on the legality of the Commission's 7 th October 2008 decision to continue their hybrid mail business."

Hybrid mail is a service whereby the content of a communication is electronically transmitted from the sender to the service provider, which then prints, envelopes, processes and delivers the postal item to the final addressee. The Commission's 2008 decision found that an amendment to the Slovak postal law remonopolised such hybrid mail services to the benefit of the postal incumbent, Slovenská pošta, in breach of EC competition rules. As a result of the amendment, alternative postal operators were no longer allowed to deliver hybrid mail items, an activity previously open to competition.

Slovenská pošta has appealed the Commission's decision before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities. However, such appeals do not suspend Slovakia's obligation to comply with the Commission's 2008 decision.

To date, Slovakia has failed to inform the Commission of any measures which would have put an end to the infringement and has, therefore, failed to comply with its obligations under the 2008 Decision. As a result, the Commission opened infringement proceedings under Article 226 of the Treaty and sent, as a first step, a letter of formal notice to Slovakia on 17 December 2008 (see IP/08/1997 ). If Slovakia does not comply with the reasoned opinion adopted today within two months, the Commission may bring the matter to the European Court of Justice.