BONN (dpa-AFX) - Deutsche Post wants to continue delivering letters and parcels everywhere in Germany in the future, but is urging appropriate framework conditions. Outgoing Group CEO Frank Appel said Thursday at Deutsche Post's annual general meeting in Bonn that the company wants to remain a universal service provider. This includes the nationwide delivery obligation - i.e., also in rural areas, where delivery is relatively expensive. Appel made it clear, however, that an exit would be mogible in the event of adverse conditions. "If the legislator forces us that we have to do other measures, then we have to look at that and see what happens."

The 61-year-old manager, whose term ended Thursday, was referring to the reform of the Postal Act, which has not been significantly amended since 1999. So it dates back to a time when letters were much more important than they are today and the Internet played only a minor role. Since then, the postal service has had to comply with obligations such as ensuring that 80 percent of posted letters reach the recipient on the next working day. In addition, there must be a post office in every large village, which is usually a retailer with a post office counter. In addition, mailboxes must be easily accessible.

The Federal Ministry of Economics is currently working on a draft law that is to be presented by the summer. At the beginning of the year, the ministry had presented a key points paper that announced a "fundamental modernization of the postal legal framework." Overall, the announcement still remained quite vague.

Appel called the content of the paper "mixed." "It's a bit of squaring the circle: one liked to continue universal service. One didn't like prices to go up. One liked to have the best working conditions and competition should still exist - and that in a segment where profits are shrinking." In particular, the contemplated "further steps" to strengthen postal competition in the letter market, where the Bonn-based company has a market share of 85 percent, is causing displeasure at postal headquarters. In addition, Deutsche Post points out that postage in Germany is relatively inexpensive compared with the rest of the EU.

With his statement on universal service, Appel is addressing a sensitive issue. For it is clear that no other company would be available to deliver letters nationwide. If the Post were to drop out, the Federal Network Agency could indeed oblige it to continue its delivery service. However, prices for mail delivery would then in all likelihood change significantly.

Appel, the Group's long-time leader, emphasized that it was "clearly not" the Group's intention to withdraw from the universal service. His reference to the fact that the possibility of withdrawing from universal service is only theoretical so far is to be understood as a hint to politicians not to put Deutsche Post in a worse position in the upcoming reform than it has been up to now.

At the AGM, shareholder representatives also emphasized the importance of the upcoming reform. "The cost situation in the mail and parcel sector should lead to greater flexibility in delivery in the Postal Act," said Marc Tüngler of the Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz (DSW), for example.

Here, he was referring to the consideration of lowering the 80 percent quota and allowing two-tier letter delivery - in which case most letters would take longer to reach the recipient and some more expensive letters would arrive faster. "The customer can choose whether they wanted a letter delivered to its destination quickly or less quickly," Tüngler said. That makes sense, he said, if the longer delivery time is cheaper than currently offered.

Appel, who plans to concentrate on his role as Deutsche Telekom Supervisory Board chairman in the future, developed Bundespost, which was privatized in the 1990s, into a major global corporation that now generates only one-sixth of its operating profit in its core business - i.e., domestic mail and parcel delivery. The revenue pearls are global express services and freight businesses.

Appel will be succeeded by 47-year-old Tobias Meyer, who, like his predecessor, used to work for management consultants McKinsey. The 47-year-old has been on the Post Board since 2019, and now moves to the top. He recently announced his intention to stick to the course set by his predecessor.

Swiss Post, which employs around 600,000 people worldwide, a good third of them in Germany, has had years of strong growth. This year, however, profits are expected to fall due to the weakening economy./wdw/DP/jha