(Direct Newsline) The European Union will informally ask the Bush administration to let foreign companies–and postal services–enter the U.S. and compete with the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service, “Direct Newsline” has learned.
The informal request will be made by top EU officials when they meet with President Bush and other top administration officials May 2 at the White House on a variety of trade and service issues, sources said.
According to those sources, a full-blown formal request to allow foreign firms and postal services compete with the USPS will be filed with the president by late June.
The sources conceded, however, that the idea of allowing foreign companies to deliver the mail in the U.S.–endorsed both by the European Parliament and European Commission–would face stiff opposition both from the White House and Congress.
Neither the White House nor the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would comment on the reported EU plan. And there was no immediate comment from the deficit-ridden USPS, which has steadily been losing customers to electronic communications and other delivery services, such as United Parcel Service and FedEx.
Officials of several major postal worker unions told “Direct Newsline” they would strongly oppose the idea of allowing foreign companies and postal services to deliver the U.S. Mail. That sentiment was echoed by several watchdog consumer and government groups.