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		Letter to the Editor Derby Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 8th September 2004 Dear Sir, Edward Spalton (letters, 2nd Sept) is a robust critic of the European Union, and I frequently agree with him. His latest letter blames "the demise of the Royal Mail" on EU Directive 97/67/EC, and he has a point. But it's a bit more complicated than that. The Directive (of which I have a copy on my desk) is intended to create a single market in postal services, and will, as Edward says, have the effect of undermining national postal monopolies, which in itself may not be a bad thing. But its main impact will be on deliveries, and on large-scale commercial mailings, neither of which go through small local post offices, so the closure of local post offices, which is causing so much concern in rural Britain, cannot be wholly blamed, this time, on the EU. It may be that the Royal Mail would have used excess profits on large-scale monopoly mailings to cross-subsidise rural post offices, but I wouldn't bet on it. Much of the blame for the closure of rural post offices must be laid at the door of Number 10 Downing Street. This Labour government has systematically excluded post offices from providing a range of services, and so undermined their viability. It is time to recognise that a village Post Office is not just a commercial enterprise. For many people, including the elderly and infirm, it is also a social service. Yours faithfully, Roger Helmer MEP