11–20 of 40 posts
>"The firm [Royal Mail], bought by a Czech billionaire in December..." I've no words. We're just playthings in a billionaire world.
It was a public good for 499 years. Crazy. Křetínský is well known in France. He's less right wing than the other billionaires buying médias, such as Bolloré.
(Looks like there's already some articles on this angle [3]!)
[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_bombing
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_box_topper
[2] - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-63833983
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Citation definitely needed for this one.
> Following the 2010 general election, the new Business Secretary in the coalition government, Vince Cable, asked Richard Hooper CBE to expand on his previous report, to account for EU Directive 2008/6/EC which called for the postal sector to be fully open to competition by 31 December 2012. Based on the updated Hooper Review, the government passed the Postal Services Act 2011. The act allowed for up to 90% of Royal…
“The external financing of the residual net costs of the universal service may still be necessary for some Member States. It is therefore appropriate to explicitly clarify the alternatives available in order to ensure the financing of the universal service, to the extent that this is needed and is adequately justified, while leaving Member States the choice of the financing mechanisms to be used. These alternatives include the use of public procurement procedures including, as provided for in the public procurement Directives, competitive dialogue or negotiated procedures with or without the publication of a contract notice and, whenever universal service obligations entail net costs of the universal service and represent an unfair burden on the designated universal service provider, public compensation and cost sharing between service providers and/or users in a transparent manner by means of contributions to a compensation fund. Member States may use other means of financing permitted by Community law, such as deciding, where and if necessary, that the profits accruing from other activities of the universal service provider(s) outside the scope of the universal service are to be assigned, in whole or in part, to the financing of the net costs of the universal service, as long as this is in line with the Treaty. Without prejudice to the obligation of Member States to uphold the Treaty rules on State aid, including specific notification requirements in this context, Member States may notify the Commission of the financing mechanisms used to cover any net costs of the universal service, which should be reflected in the regular reports that the Commission should present to the European Parliament and Council on the application of Directive 97/67/EC.”
IE Privatizing Royal mail was not required by the EU, instead they needed to allow for competition by UPS, FedEx etc.
>"The firm [Royal Mail], bought by a Czech billionaire in December..." I've no words. We're just playthings in a billionaire world.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Citation definitely needed for this one.
> Following the 2010 general election, the new Business Secretary in the coalition government, Vince Cable, asked Richard Hooper CBE to expand on his previous report, to account for EU Directive 2008/6/EC which called for the postal sector to be fully open to competition by 31 December 2012. Based on the updated Hooper Review, the government passed the Postal Services Act 2011. The act allowed for up to 90% of Royal…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the UK in a nutshell this past decade. Privatise all of the public services for a quick buck, and slowly but surely the service decays whilst the prices for consumers increases. The trains in the UK are a great example of this.
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Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Other users have pointed out this isn't entirely accurate but i'm still shocked. My understanding was the job of the eu was to impose continent wide standards to enable free exchange between member states. How does dictating the policy of national postal services achieve any of that?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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If this is the case, why are many other EU postal services still state-owned (e.g. Ireland, Poland, Cyprus, Greece)? The UK left the EU 5 years ago yet it’s still being used as cover for UK political decisions.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Other users have pointed out this isn't entirely accurate but i'm still shocked. My understanding was the job of the eu was to impose continent wide standards to enable free exchange between member states. How does dictating the policy of national postal services achieve any of that?
For postal services, the same applies. EU doesn’t like the idea of a state owned or subsidised postal business, preventing the entrance of competition from companies in other member states, or allowing the subsidised entities to expand and outcompete companies in other EU states.
The EU doesn’t set national postal policy. It only requires that the basic postal service is an open to competition from entities (private and public) in any EU member. With a carve outs for the funding of universal service (I.e. making sure that every address gets post regardless of profitability), where state aid is clearly needed.
>"The firm [Royal Mail], bought by a Czech billionaire in December..." I've no words. We're just playthings in a billionaire world.
That's the UK in a nutshell this past decade. Privatise all of the public services for a quick buck, and slowly but surely the service decays whilst the prices for consumers increases. The trains in the UK are a great example of this.
the same sorry ass situation that PG&E is in California, everything is brutally expensive because it's an absolutely shitty old system sustaining an overgrowning fucking sprawl (which coincidentally also means more roads and pipes and less trains and tickets)