Dutch to discuss May 20 opening up post market

AMSTERDAM, May 7 (Reuters) - The Dutch government will brief Parliament in a fortnight on whether it will open up the domestic postal market to full competition on July 1, as previously envisioned.

Dutch Junior Economy Minister Frank Heemskerk said in March he hoped to open the market in July depending on developments in Germany and labour talks between Dutch postal companies and trade unions.

TNT (TNT.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Europe's second-biggest mail and logistics company, has the remaining monopoly for letters of up to 50 grammes, with the market estimated to be worth about 1 billion euros ($1.55 billion) in 2007.

The Netherlands postponed the full opening of the market, due in January, partly because of the introduction of a minimum wage for postal workers in Germany, which it said impedes competition and where TNT had hoped to expand its operations.

The economy ministry has commissioned a report by a research firm on the impact of the German minimum wage, which it will present to parliament on May 20, Heemskerk wrote in a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday.

He will also present a report by EU Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on mail market liberalisation.

Heemskerk cited an agreement struck by trade unions and TNT's rivals, privately owned Sandd and Deutsche Post's (DPWGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Dutch unit Selekt Mail, last month regarding labour conditions for postal workers. "Based on these documents, Parliament and I expect to have a comprehensive picture and can judge if the legislative proposal for July 1, 2008 can be implemented," Heemskerk wrote in the letter.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Rory Channing)