Slovaks To Sue EU Over Mail Service Ruling

The European Commission said delivery of hybrid mail had been re-monopolised to the benefit of Slovak Post.

Slovak Post will file a lawsuit against the European Commission for an order suspending a law giving the state-run company a monopoly over some mail services, it said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Robert Fico said Slovak Post had the support of his government in the lawsuit.

European Union regulators ordered Slovakia in October to reopen competition in its postal sector, ruling that recent legal changes violated EU rules on dominant market positions.

"The European Commission yielded to pressure of private delivery companies," Fico said after visiting the Slovak Post headquarters. "We have to protect ourselves against such cherry picking of state ownership."

Before February, the postal system was open to competition and several private companies were active in the sector. But the government amended the law, reserving the delivery of some mail to Slovak post.

The amendment, in force since April, extended Slovak Post's monopoly to deliver hybrid mail services, a specific form of postal service where the content is electronically transferred from the sender to the postal service operator who then prints, envelopes, sorts and delivers the postal items.

The European Commission said delivery of hybrid mail had been re-monopolised to the benefit of Slovak Post, while private operators were prevented from carrying out this activity.

"Several experts have described the European Commission's decision as an effective introduction of full liberalisation of postal services in Slovakia, while the full liberalisation of postal services in the EU is planned only for 2013," Slovak Post said in its statement.

The deadline for filing the lawsuit at the European Court of Justice is Dec. 7.