Vol. 534 No. 5
85 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the discussions which took place at the Council of Ministers meeting regarding the liberalisation of the postal services across Europe; the decisions reached; the implications for Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11265/01]
At the Council of Ministers in Luxembourg on 4 April 2001, the Swedish Presidency announced it would be seeking an agreement at the next Council, due to be held in June, on the next phase of liberalisation of the postal services market. To this end, the Presidency announced that it will be working to develop a compromise text which it hopes could form the basis of an agreement at the Transport-Telecommunications Council in June this year. There was discussion on this item. At the Council meeting on 22 December last, I spoke in favour of a staged approach to liberalisation consistent with the position put forward by the European Parliament.
