Postal services

Postal services play a key role in an effective and dynamic EU Single Market and they are of crucial importance to businesses and EU citizens alike. The European Commission works on improving the quality of delivery and access to postal services, and aims to complete a well-functioning Single Market for postal services.

In the spotlight

Our workshop, 'Delivering for the future: Developments in the postal sector' took place in Brussels on 19 September 2018. See the summary and presentation.

Why postal services are important

EU economy - the EU postal sector accounts for €91 billion or 0.72% of EU GDP (letter post alone accounts for €44 billion or 0.34 percent of the GDP, and the number of letters was 82 billion).
E-commerce - the parcel sector is dynamically growing in terms of volume and plays an important role in the development of e-commerce. Over 6.4 billion items were shipped in 2011.
Employment - about 1.2 million people were employed by universal postal service providers in 2013, and other providers of postal services also provide an important source of employment.

Commission objectives

The postal sector has been opened to competition in a gradual and controlled way. The core aims of EU postal policy are to:

complete the Single Market for postal services
ensure a high quality universal postal service for businesses and consumers at affordable prices
improve the quality of service, such as delivery times and convenient access
ensure the correct implementation of EU legislation and propose any necessary changes to meet these objectives.

On this website

Contact us

grow-e2@ec.europa.eu