For local elected officials, it’s a cold shower. The postal services network in your territory could be affected by the drastic budget measures that the government is considering. On Friday, September 27, the president and CEO of the La Poste group, Philippe Wahl, declared that the State wanted to cut this year 50 million euros from the contract called “territorial postal presence” that finances, in particular, municipal postal agencies. (the transfer of postal services to municipal premises to compensate for the closure of post offices) and commercial relay points. Post offices as such (managed directly by La Poste, with its staff) would not be affected.
Whatever. The announcement made by Mr. Wahl on the sidelines of the congress of the Association of Rural Mayors of France (AMRF), in Côte-d’or, took by surprise the local elected officials, always very sensitive to the issue of the Presence of services public in their municipality. The fund finances 17,000 places that offer postal services (post offices, municipal and inter-municipal postal agencies, commercial postal repeaters, France Services spaces, etc.) in rural areas, in the political districts of the city and abroad.
This obligation was imposed on La Poste, by virtue of its public service mission of territorial planning, by the 2010 law born from the opening of the sector to competition. The aim is to allow at least 90% of residents to access essential postal services within a five kilometer and twenty minute drive radius of their home.
“A bad sign”
The planned reduction corresponds to almost half of the State’s participation in this contract that links the State, La Poste and the Association of French Mayors (AMF) for the period 2023-2025. According to Wahl, the decision has already been made. “There is this budget cut of 50 million euros of the 160 million that has been decided and we are going to discuss it with the State”declared, according to comments collected by Agence France-Presse and The Gazette of the Municipalities.
However, the environment of the minister responsible for rurality, Françoise Gatel, assures that this is not the case: “It’s premature. No budget decisions have been made yet.said, referring to the general policy speech, which the Prime Minister is due to deliver on Tuesday 1Ahem October to the National Assembly, and the presentation of the finance bill for 2025, in the coming days. The decision has not been confirmed by Bercy either. Contacted by the worldLa Poste declined to comment further on the matter.
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