The Dutch parliament passed a law on Tuesday ending mail company TNT's monopoly on delivering letters accounting for around half the Netherlands' 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) postal market. The decision clears the way for the complete deregulation of the Dutch postal market in line with a push by the European Union to liberalise mail services.
The European Commission wants to liberalise the 90 billion euro postal service market of the 27-nation bloc from 2009, but faces opposition from France, Greece, Poland and Belgium, which say they need more time.
The Dutch law is due to come into force next January but includes a provision allowing the government to delay its introduction if there are doubts about TNT being allowed to compete effectively in other countries, like Germany.
The law ends TNT's last remaining monopoly on the delivery of letters of up to 50 grams around half the market. Delivery of heavier letters and parcels is already deregulated.