How do you get this numberOur needs are immense

With the creation Wednesday of a commission to look at the subject, Nicolas Sarkozy officially launched the debate on the future of the post. The President of the Republic should be 30 November a report on his Office, which will allow the Government to give or not reason to requests for Jean-Paul Bailly, the President of the postal operator. The leader has a goal: adjust the position for the total opening of the markets in 2011, allowing him to become a limited company in 2010, then through a capital increase in 2011. For "Les Echos", he describes his project.

The Elysee Palace announced Wednesday the creation of a commission "to examine the different options for the development of the company". Are you satisfied with this decision

The Government's decision is fully consistent with the idea that it was a process of decision for such subject matter. A folder that affects both the life of the French but which is still poorly known, have a commission which will allow us time to listen, pedagogy, taking into account different points of view just as made for EDF appears to be a normal step. We therefore welcomed this decision in a very positive way, as the Government says its support for the need for the development of the company.

In the release, as "questions" is made on how best to promote the development of the company. What are the alternatives

On the terms of the opening of the capital, the choices are open, and in my proposal are evoked different possible tracks. The principal are the institutional track essentially the entry to the capital of the Caisse des Dépôts and runway shareholding employee and popular, with the introduction on the stock exchange.

Do you have a preferred track

I am very for a shareholding employee important and motivating. In the case of the position where the number of potential subscribers is very high, I think that it is quite difficult to have an employee share ownership without that there is a market for these actions. I do not say that it is impossible, but it makes the significantly more complicated thing...

The cost of the missions of public service it evokes of amounts exceeding the one billion euros could nonetheless scare financial markets...

In recent years, these missions were better and better defined, they are listed in the marble of the Act. They are necessary regardless of the legal form of the position. They are also better and better funded. The universal postal service should be funded through the transposition of the third directive. For the transport of press, we have an agreement which, if respected, led to the disappearance of the deficit by 2015. For the booklet, the different legislative and regulatory provisions should lead to a balanced analytic account. Territorial presence, we have in place a mechanism for Equalization Fund which largely offsets the cost of the missions... In any event, these missions are part of our specifications and any investor will have the obligation to take into account.

To develop, one possibility would have been to open the capital of La Banque Postale. Why not to have used

The goal is to be multimétier and multiservice. The unity of the group is therefore fundamental: when a trade is in difficulty as the mail in our first half of 2008, the good of other trades to compensate. The sale of assets cannot be a mode of financing. I do not want what was Deutsche Post with Postbank.

You did state a need for funding of EUR 3 billion approximately. How do you get this number

Our needs are immense. Our post offices, despite efforts of modernization, are still too often obsolete. Our information systems are exceeded. In the field of the mail, we will have to be able to meet the demands of businesses outsource more and more their mail service. The Banque Postale will also certainly need to supplement its retail banking function. Finally, the parcel and express are full consolidation: actor who does not get sufficient European critical size is automatically out of the market. When the balance of these needs, we arrive at a figure of the order of EUR 3 billion. And this at a time where, despite results in progress over the past five years, we have before us, in the best of cases, to the capacity of investment of the order of EUR 300 million per year. It is with the nature of the issues and opportunities.

In this connection, the position is committed recently in external growth two files (Spain and Experian France SEUR) which appear to exceed the envelope you are talking about...

If we were to make positive decisions on these two issues, this places almost until mid-2010 our investment capabilities. The order of magnitude for these potential investments exceeds 600 million. Reported 300 million which we were talking about, you see that we are limited...

Trade unions and the opposition parties are seeking to term a popular referendum on the future of the post. What is your position on this request

I think it is useful that there is a time of debate and that the method chosen by the Government appears suited to the nature of the problem.

If the process for the opening of the capital of the position had to be blocked, what would be the consequences for the Group

It would be very damaging for the position. There is no average route today between development or decline. There is no future for a position that would not massively invest in new technologies and recroquevillerait the single national territory.