Following a presentation by the Commission of its proposal for a Directive amending the current postal Directive 97/67/EC concerning the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services, adopted on 18 October 2006, the Council held a preliminary exchange of views on the basis of the Presidency report.
In broad terms, the objectives of the proposal are to achieve an internal market for postal services through the removal of exclusive and special rights in the postal sector and the confirmation of the market opening timetable laid out in the current Directive, safeguard a common level of universal services for all users in all EU countries and set harmonised principles for postal services regulation in an open market environment, with the aim of reducing other obstacles to internal market functioning.
The exchange of views was intended to provide a basis for a swift and constructive legislative process and help to identify those main issues to which the Council preparatory bodies need to pay attention when they will have more substantial deliberations on the proposal.