The tool to find public tariffs on cross-border parcel delivery services in the EU is now online.
The study, 'Development of cross-border e-commerce through parcel delivery' is now available in our collection of studies on the postal sector.
The presentations from our public stakeholder workshop on the postal sector that took place in Brussels on 4 June 2019 are now available.
Postal services play a key role for EU citizens and businesses in the single market. The postal sector (which includes express services) employs about 1.8 million people providing an important source of employment in the EU. The aim of the postal services directive is to ensure that affordable, high quality and efficient postal services are available throughout the EU.
The postal services directive sets out the objectives for postal services and establishes a regulatory framework for European postal services. The EU Postal Directive Committee, established by the directive, serves as a scrutiny body for the application of postal legislation and for the improvement of quality of service, notably the establishment of quality standards for intra-EU cross-border services.
EU postal legislation, implementation and enforcement
Digitalisation and the development of e-commerce have caused a shift in users' needs and a large increase in the number of parcels being sent. Growth in the parcel and express delivery market was estimated at 13% per year between 2013-2016. To allow consumers and companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to buy and sell products online more easily and confidently across the EU, the regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services was adopted in April 2018. The regulation aims to increase price transparency and regulatory oversight of cross-border parcel delivery services in the EU so that individual consumers and small e-retailers can benefit from more affordable deliveries. One measure foreseen by the regulation is the tool to find public tariffs on cross-border parcel delivery services.
The European Regulators Group for Postal Services (ERGP) reviews postal services in the EU and provides advice to the European Commission. It also aims to facilitate consultation, coordination and cooperation between EU countries and the Commission.
The European Regulators Group for Postal Services
Since 2014, the Commission has been collecting annual data on postal services in cooperation with national postal regulatory authorities in the context of the 'EU Postal Survey'. The postal statistics offer an analytical working tool for users of postal data in a single source.
Since 1993, the Commission has promoted and supported the creation of technical standards in the postal sector. The postal services directive recognises the role standardisation plays in benefitting postal customers and operators, for example, by providing a standardised measurement of quality of service.
Standardisation in the postal sector
The European Commission represents the EU as an official observer to the United Nation’s specialised agency for the postal sector, the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The Commission has advisory status in the European Committee for Postal Regulation (CERP). Postal services also form part of EU accession negotiations and free trade agreements in terms of regulatory provisions and commitments.
International activities on postal services
We commission a number of studies on the postal sector in the EU.