Swiss Post focuses on entrepreneurial freedom and public service
Swiss Post intends to rely on entrepreneurial freedom to ensure the provision of public services starting in 2030. This is to be done without drastic cuts. In the future, digital services are also to be increasingly integrated into the basic service offering. A recent expert report had also called for this.
Calculations show that Swiss Post will no longer be able to finance itself from 2028, said Group CEO Roberto Cirillo at a virtual media conference on Friday. This is because communication will become more digital, letter volumes will decline and investments in logistics will be necessary due to increasing parcel volumes. In the interview, Cirillo referred to the report by the independent commission of experts, which outlined the future of Swiss Post from 2030 at its presentation just over a week ago.
The report on the reform of Swiss Post had concluded that the financing of the basic service is at stake. Because of digitization, Swiss Post's basic service mandate is to be adjusted: Letters are to be delivered only on three days of the week and no later than three days after delivery. In return, priority speed is to become the standard for parcels.
The expert commission's analyses coincided in many cases with Swiss Post's findings, Cirillo said. Swiss Post also wants to anchor digital services in the basic service. The answer to the challenges of the future is the "Post of tomorrow" strategy, which has been under implementation for a year. The first "fruits" of the new strategy will be presented next Thursday at the annual media conference.
No clear cutting planned
According to Cirillo, the public postal service will continue to play a central role in Switzerland after 2030 as Swiss Post's raison d'être, "but increasingly in digital form. Swiss Post therefore wants to invest in the physical and digital public service and continue to manage without taxpayers' money in the future.
Cirillo envisions a path to this end without any cutbacks - the new strategy would have no consequences for staffing levels. However, the exact aspects of financing can only be clarified once the scope of the new public service is known, Cirillo said. However, he said, Swiss Post needs more entrepreneurial freedom to be prepared for the future. This includes the acquisition of suitable companies, he said.
Unlike the expert group, Swiss Post does not want to cut services. "Removing A Mail from the basic service is not an option for the Post," Cirillo said. This delivery method is a need, he said. The expert group also proposes that basic payment services be provided independently of postal services, something Cirillo also opposed. The post offices are an important pillar of Postfinance and payment transactions in general, he said.
Furthermore, the expert commission is in favor of abolishing Swiss Post's residual monopoly for letters weighing less than 50 grams. But this monopoly is still an important and, above all, the only financing instrument for the basic service, despite diminishing returns, Cirillo stressed.
Swiss Post is also prepared to share the deficit in newspaper transport as long as the basic service is solidly financed. It is up to parliament to decide whether newspaper delivery should be removed from the basic service. It remains to be seen whether customers will be willing to bear the deficit from 2030, Cirillo said.
Union against downsizing
For the Transfair staff association, it is clear that nationwide access to basic postal services must continue to be guaranteed in all regions of Switzerland, according to a statement. The proposal to reduce the delivery of A Mail and abolish the delivery of newspapers would torpedo the public service and effectively mean a cutback.
The commission, headed by former Aargau FDP member of the Council of States Christine Egerszegi, recommends that the Federal Council make a fundamental decision soon on "the guidelines for the future basic service." Cirillo also said it was high time for discussions on public service. (SDA)
