Abstract

This work analyses the liberalisation process of the mail services that will be completed before 2011, as established by the third European directive. The aim is threefold: to assess the different outcomes from the market liberalisation in the EU countries and to analyse persisting problems; to introduce a set of indicators that measure differences in the legislative liberalisation, access regulation and outcomes of the mail market; and, finally, to identify the main problems that affect the Italian market. The Italian reform has been focused, during the past decade, on the need to balance the public company budget and the first European directive has been used to increase the reserved service area; moreover the effective competition in the liberalised market segments has been limited by the governmental regulation. It would be desirable a new reform to plan for full market opening and establish an independent regulation, as a necessary prerequisite to develop this sector.