REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of the Postal Services Directive (Directive 97/67/EC as amended by Directive 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC)
Date: 2021-11-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EU competition policy, application of EU law, digitisation, electronic commerce, freight rate, innovation, postal service, provision of services, single market, technological change, universal service

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.11.2021  COM(2021) 674 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of the Postal Services Directive (Directive 97/67/EC as amended by Directive 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC) {SEC(2021) 388 final} - {SWD(2021) 309 final} - {SWD(2021) 310 final}  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE 
COUNCIL 

on the application of the Postal Services Directive (Directive 97/67/EC as amended by 
Directive 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC) 

I. 

INTRODUCTION 

The EU postal services (letter mail and parcels) sector is a key enabler of the economy and of trade, 
underpinning  other  sectors  and  contributing  to  the  growth  and  resilience  of  the  EU  economy. 
Companies  of  all  sizes  use  postal  services  to  build  their  business,  supply  goods  and  receive 
payments. All levels of government and public administrations rely on postal services for public 
communications. Vulnerable users and citizens in rural remote areas need postal services to remain 
connected  to  an  increasingly  digitalised  economy.  The  postal  services  sector  hence  plays  an 
essential  role  in  ensuring  the  right  to  communication  and  in  promoting  territorial,  social  and 
economic  cohesion.  With  many  EU  citizens  confined  in  their  homes  during  the  COVID-19 
pandemic, postal services have proven more important than ever. They provided affordable and 
quality postal services, delivered products for medical purposes and offered other relevant services 
such as financial services to citizens.  

The  regulatory  framework  governing  postal  services  has  been  in  place  for  more  than  20  years.  
Directive 97/67/EC1 (the “Postal Services Directive”) came into force in 1997. Its objective was 
ensuring  the  harmonization  of  national  universal  service  obligations  while  at  the  same  time 
gradually introducing competition  in the  postal  services  sector, in  particular in  relation  to  letter 
mail services that were traditionally reserved for national postal incumbents. It was amended in 
2002 to provide for further market opening, and again in 2008 to complete full market opening.  
With the exception of these two amendments and the Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery2 
adopted in 2018 to provide more transparency and regulatory oversight regarding parcel delivery 
services, the postal services framework at EU level has remained the same since 1997. During this 
period,  however,  postal  services  markets  have  undergone  a  major  shift  largely  driven  by 
technological innovation, digitization and e-commerce. Letter mail has increasingly been replaced 
by  electronic  communication,  especially  in  the  context  of  e-government.  In  addition,  many 
traditional  bulk  senders  (e.g.  banks;  utility  companies)  switched  to  electronic  communication 
solutions after the financial crisis. At the same time, e-commerce has led to a significant increase 
in parcel delivery services. This transformation, which has become increasingly apparent during 

1   Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for 

the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, 
as amended by Directive 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC, OJ L 15, 21.1.1998, pages 14 to 25. 

2   Regulation (EU) 2018/644 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 April 2018 on cross-border 

parcel delivery services, OJ L 112, 2.5.2018, pages 19 to 28. 

1 

 
 
                                                           
the COVID-19 pandemic, has affected both demand and supply in all Member States, albeit to a 
different extent.   

Prompted by the fundamental changes to the market context, the Commission carried out an ex-
post evaluation to assess whether the Postal Services Directive has achieved its objectives, is still 
fit for purpose and matches the present and future needs of postal users and operators. 

This  Report,  drafted  pursuant  to  Article  23  of  the  Postal  Services  Directive,  presents  the  main 
findings of the evaluation. It draws on information from the Commission Staff Working Document 
on  the  evaluation  of  the  Postal  Services  Directive  (“Commission  Staff  Working  Document”),3 
which is to be read in conjunction with this Report, as well as from the Commission’s open public 
consultation on the evaluation of the Directive.   

The main takeaway of the Report is that maintaining some form of universal postal service for all 
EU  citizens  is  justified,  although  with  an  appropriate  level  of  flexibility  for  Member  States  to 
design postal policies at national level. At the same time, on the basis of the available evidence4, 
the evaluation has identified issues that are not sufficiently reflected in the current Postal Services 
Directive or where the Directive has not delivered the expected results: (i) the benefits of universal 
postal  services  to  society  have  been    declining  while  universal  service  provision  has  become 
increasingly costly; (ii) the achievement of an internal market and stimulating effective competition 
in  the  letter  mail  segment  has  not  taken  place  in  the  scope  envisaged;  and  (iii)  standards  are 
insufficiently used; this reduces legal certainty and may lead to interoperability issues. In addition, 
while  the  focus  of  the  regulatory  intervention  was  traditionally  on  letter  mail  services,  the 
digitalization  of  the  society  and  growth  of  e-commerce  have  increasingly  made  parcel  delivery 
services the point of attention of market operators and policy makers. Within this context, the large 
price differentials between tariffs for domestic and cross-border parcel deliveries deserve particular 
attention, as they may undermine the functioning of the internal market and up-take of cross-border 
e-commerce.  

II.  MARKET  DEVELOPMENTS:  A  MAJOR  TRANSFORMATION  DRIVEN  BY 

DIGITIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION 

Digitalization  and  technological  developments  have  transformed  consumer  and  business  needs, 
leading  to  the  creation  of  new  products,  services  and  business  models.  The  postal  sector  is  no 

3   See the Commission Staff Working Document Evaluation of Directive 97/67/EC on common rules for the 
development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service 
amended by Directives 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC. 

4    The Commission’s consultations and other surveys were based on a limited number of responses. This is 

particularly the case for the public consultation. The level of quantification in the analysis is therefore constrained 
by the availability of relevant data at EU level. This affects especially the efficiency section and the establishment 
of a causality link between market developments and the Directive. It also affects the robustness of some of the 
conclusions drawn in the analysis especially when it comes to user needs and user satisfaction for which evidence 
is essentially based on national surveys but sometimes remain weak at EU level.   

2 

 
 
                                                           
exception.  Since  the  financial  crisis  in  2008,  there  has  been  a  steep  decline  in  letter  mail  as 
electronic substitution of traditional mail services is accelerating when governments, businesses 
and  consumers  increasingly  adopt  electronic  processes  across  multiple  domains.  During  the 
COVID-19 pandemic, five major EU universal  service providers5 have reported  a  drop in  letter 
mail volumes, ranging from -10 percent in the Netherlands to -18 percent in France.   

In contrast, growth in parcel delivery services has accelerated because of the significant increase 
in e-commerce. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was predicted that global online sales would 
roughly double between 2019 and 2024; current trends suggest the pandemic will push this timeline 
forward. In 2020, growth in the volume of parcels delivered by universal service providers ranged 
from 14 percent in Denmark and Sweden, to 42 percent in Italy and 49 percent in Belgium. Major 
global express operators registered growths in parcel volumes of up to 23 percent.   

The two starkly contrasting trends of letter mail and parcel mail will likely continue and intensify 
over the coming years. If so, compared to 2016, the EU letter mail segment would end up losing 
more than 12 percent of revenue and 32 percent in volume by 2025. Revenue in the EU parcel 
segment would more than double.6   

Because the postal business model relies on economies of scale, the decrease in letter mail volumes 
(-4.9  percent  on  average  every  year  since  2008)  drives  up  the  delivery  cost  per  unit.  To  offset 
increases in costs, many postal operators across the EU have been innovating their business models. 
Universal  service  providers  with  their  established  networks  and  high  fixed  cost  structure  have 
looked  for  ways  to  increase  efficiency,  improve  customer-oriented  solutions,  diversify  their 
services and find new markets to grow. The rise of e-commerce has given them the possibility to 
grow in parcel distribution and many universal service providers are now fiercely competing with 
other  parcel  delivery  operators.  With  only  very  few  exceptions7,  the  market  share  of  universal 
service providers in the parcel segment remains however relatively small in comparison to letter 
mail where they have always held (and continue to hold) very significant market shares or even 
remain the only relevant market operator.   

Profitability of universal service providers has been maintained by cutting (mainly labour) costs, 
increasing productivity through technological innovation (for example automated sorting systems), 
relying  on  the  offer  of  more  basic  products  and  services  and/or  increasing  prices.  Prices  for 
domestic letter mail under universal service have increased constantly in nominal terms since 2008.  
The price of the most commonly used letter product, a domestic single piece letter of 20 gram, has 
increased  by  7  percent  annually  in  nominal  terms.  For  the  deliveries  of  parcel  falling  under 
universal  service,  there  was  a  moderate  price  increase  during  the  same  period,  in  spite  of  the 
increase in volumes. Between 2014 and 2019, domestic prices for a standard 2-kilogram parcel 

5 Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. PostNord operates in Denmark and Sweden. 
6 Commission Staff Working Document Evaluation of Directive 97/67/EC, p.15. 
7 Commission Staff Working Document Evaluation of Directive 97/67/EC, pp.15 and 134.  

3 

 
 
                                                           
increased  on  average  by  1  percent  annually,  and  the  nominal  price  of  the  cheapest  and  most 
expensive cross-border destination increased by respectively 2.6 percent and 0.3 percent. 

The sector is among the domestic largest corporate employers and provided citizens across the EU 
with  around  1.5  million  jobs  in  20188.  In  both  the  public  and  private  sector,  there  has  been  an 
increase  in  more  flexible  employment,  including  outsourcing,  now  used  by  the  majority  of 
universal service providers. 

While it is difficult to identify the direct causal relationship between the market developments and 
the Postal Services Directive, it is important to understand the context within which the regulatory 
framework has been applicable and to view the following findings of the Commission’s evaluation 
from the perspective of changed user needs. 

III.  THE  PAST  AND  THE  PRESENT:  FINDINGS  OF  THE  EVALUATION  OF  THE 

POSTAL SERVICES DIRECTIVE 

The Postal Services Directive pursues three principal objectives: (1) guaranteeing the provision of 
affordable, high-quality universal postal service to all users; (2) establishing a well-functioning and 
competitive internal market for postal services; and (3) establishing harmonizing principles for the 
regulation of postal services. The findings of the evaluation can be grouped under the heading of 
each objective.   

1.  Findings related to the provision of affordable, high-quality universal postal service 

to all users 

Even  though  the  market  context  has  changed,  the  Postal  Services  Directive  has  broadly  been 
successful in ensuring that citizens and businesses across the EU could benefit from basic postal 
services.  It  is  clear  that  the  universal  service  obligation  has  protected  a  fundamental  means  of 
communication and economic participation throughout the EU. A sizeable part of the population 
across  the  EU,  especially  those  living  in  remote  or  rural  regions  still  rely  on  universal  postal 
services  to  stay  connected  and  are  likely  to  continue  doing  so  for  the  next  five  to  ten  years.  
Numerous  businesses  and  government  institutions  still  use  letter  mail  for  communication. 
Moreover, as internet penetration is not yet complete nor uniform across the EU, some citizens are 
still entirely dependent on letter mail. The physical distancing and confinement measures during 
the Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated that postal services have played a vital role ensuring that 
letters and parcels have arrived at homes and businesses across the country.   

Maintaining  a  minimum  level  of  affordable  postal  universal  service  for  letter  mail  therefore 
remains justified. However, certain parts of the Postal Services Directive are less well adapted to 
address changes related to the market context and user needs which means that some costs related 

8 Eurostat (2021), annual detailed enterprise statistics for services, as quoted in Commission Staff Working Document 
Evaluation of Directive 97/67/EC, p.1. 

4 

 
 
                                                           
to  the  universal  service  provision  increase  while  the  broader  benefits  to  society  decrease,  and 
adjustments may be warranted. A majority of the respondents to the Commission’s open public 
consultation also supports that conclusion.   

Faced  with  increased  costs  of  universal  service  provision,  Member  States  have  adapted  the 
universal service  

The needs of postal users and businesses have changed in response to market developments and 
the diminishing demand for letter mail has increased the costs of universal service provision. To 
address these phenomena and find less costly ways of operating, 11 Member States have relied on 
derogations  allowed  by  the  Postal  Services  Directive  to  reduce  the  features  and  scope  of  the 
universal service obligation. The minimum frequency of delivery of postal items has sometimes 
been reduced. Member States have also narrowed the relevant letter mail and parcel products and 
services subject to universal service. Importantly, many Member States have reduced night shifts 
and introduced ground transport instead of flights, which in turn have led to lower quality of service 
(longer  transit  time  performance).  The  benefits  of  the  quality  of  services  requirements  have 
therefore been declining too. These developments suggest that minimum requirements regarding 
the product/service scope, five-day delivery and quality of service in the Directive are not fully 
aligned  with  current  market  expectations  and  demand  and  pose  challenges  for  the  designated 
providers.  The  evaluation  therefore  underlines  that  there  may  be  a  case  for  reassessing  what 
products, services and related features need to be included in the universal service obligation and 
how they should be regulated. This would include reassessing the level of flexibility needed by 
Member States to adapt their national regulation of universal services to domestic circumstances. 

The state of parcel delivery services raises questions regarding the extent to which parcel delivery 
services should be part of the universal service obligation  

The presence of multiple operators and delivery options available in the parcel delivery market 
raises questions about the necessity of having parcel delivery in the scope of the universal service 
and whether postal users could be equally served at the same (or lower) price without a universal 
service obligation. Indeed, for business-to-business and business-to-consumer parcels the existence 
of alternative offers available to users at equivalent or lower prices than those offered by universal 
service providers may speak in favour of concluding that such parcels should not be part of the 
universal service. In fact, many Member States already exclude such parcels from the scope of the 
universal service. This however does not exclude the need to monitor the dynamics of these market 
segments.   

Conversely, the evaluation highlights that for consumer-sent parcels, in some Member States, or 
parts  of  Member  States,  individual  consumers  may  not  have  much  choice  of  parcel  delivery 
operators  providing  services  in  their  area  or  may  just  not  be  aware  of  the  variety  of  operators 
available.  They  therefore  rely  on  the  universal  service  provider  for  parcel  delivery.  This  may 
especially concern vulnerable users in rural and remote areas. Some consumers also rely on the 

5 

 
 
universal  service  provider  out  of  convenience,  as  it  is  the  most  familiar  and  hence  the  easier, 
accessible option available for sending and returning items. For these consumers the evaluation 
indicates that it could be justified to have at least consumer sent parcels within the universal service 
obligation.  The  universal  service  has  also  kept  prices  affordable  to  a  large  extent  (except  in  a  
limited number of cases for certain specific cross-border parcel deliveries for which tariffs were 
unreasonably high9), as parcels within the universal service obligation have benefitted from a VAT 
exemption and have been subject to price control under the Postal Services Directive’s tariff rules.   

The Postal Services Directive’s tariff principles have helped maintain price for universal services 
affordable  notwithstanding  price  increases.  A  lack  of  transparency  regarding  the  use  of  these 
principles  can  create  issues  of  unlevelled  playing  field  in  cross-border  transactions  among 
universal service providers 

The tariff principles enshrined in the Postal Services Directive aim to ensure that price for universal 
services remains cost-oriented and affordable. Even though universal service prices for both letter 
mail and parcel delivery have increased, the tariff principles used for price regulation have likely 
contributed to avoiding even steeper price increases, in particular in the segments where volumes 
declined  and  unit  costs  increased,  such  as  letter  mail.  On  the  other  side,  the  information  and 
evidence collected does not allow the Commission to conclude at this point why, despite increasing 
volumes, the tariffs for parcel delivery are increasing, even marginally.   

Member States apply and interpret these principles very differently, or sometimes do not apply all 
of them. This may reduce clarity, legal certainty and transparency around the use of these principles. 
Moreover, most, if not all, national regulatory authorities also lack the necessary tools to verify if, 
and  how,  universal  service  providers  apply  those  tariff  principles  to  the  price  they  charge  one 
another for the delivery of cross-border postal items (so-called “terminal dues”). This may have 
negative effects on the postal market and the e-commerce sector. As the volumes of cross-border 
e-commerce deliveries continue to rise the need for information and transparency on the tariffs for 
parcel delivery may become increasingly relevant. 

Complaint handling lags behind 

The European Regulators Group for Postal Services has also devised a quality indicator based on 
the  publication  of  the  number  of  complaints  received  and  the  number  of  resolved/unresolved 
complaints for letters and parcels.   

Complaint handling by  universal  service providers has improved in  recent  years. Most national 
regulatory authorities are now competent to handle  complaints. The majority of Member States 
require providers to publish information regarding complaint procedures, compensation schemes 
and dispute resolution. The ERGP has also developed a quality indicator based on the publication 
of the number of complaints received and the number of resolved/unresolved complaints (for letters 

9 See Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee on the 
application and implementation of Regulation (EU) 2018/644 on cross-border parcel delivery services, COM(2021) 675.  

6 

 
 
                                                           
and parcels). It  shows that there are still a number of Member States that neither keep track of the 
number of complaints and how they have been handled, nor publish the outcome of the complaint 
procedure (i.e., if it was resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant or not). Furthermore, only 
around  half  of  Member  States  apply  the  mandatory  technical  standard  on  complaints  handling, 
which in addition is not mandatory for parcel delivery. This does not promote consumer confidence 
in postal services. 

The options for financing the universal service are not always efficient 

The provision of universal services entails a net cost. The net cost of the universal service obligation 
represents the difference between the difference between the cost for a designated universal service 
provider of operating with the universal service obligation and the cost for the same postal service 
provider  operating  without  the  universal  service  obligation.  The  net  cost  of  universal  service 
provision can be substantial. If the universal service provider had to bear such costs on its own, it 
would put that provider in a disadvantaged position vis-à-vis its competitors. Member States may 
therefore compensate the universal  service provider for the net  cost  through State  aid.  Member 
States may also set up so-called compensation funds to finance the net costs. Such funds operate 
in a way that the universal service providers and other major postal services providers in a given 
Member State have to contribute to finance the net cost if it constitutes an unfair burden for the 
universal service provider.  

There are weaknesses in relation to how compensation funds operate. Providers’ contribution to 
the  fund  is  often  not  sufficient  to  cover  the  entire  cost,  especially  as  the  cost  is  growing  in  a 
declining letter mail market and the universal service providers have a strong position.  In these 
situations,  State  aid  funding  is  also  required  to  finance  the  costs.  It  also  seems  that  the 
administrative costs of the sharing mechanism are relatively high in proportion to the contribution 
fees.  Moreover,  sharing  the  burden  among  postal  operators  sets  low  incentives  for  a  universal 
service provider to improve its efficiency and may deter market entrance. In its current form, the 
provision of the Directive on the compensation fund is not working in an optimal manner to fund 
the universal service. This may also explain why Member States very rarely use this way of funding 
the net costs of universal service provision. 

2.  Findings related to establishing a well-functioning and competitive internal market 

for postal services 

The Postal Service Directive has been only marginally effective in contributing to the achievement 
of an internal market and stimulating effective competition in the letter mail segment. Full market 
opening  has  taken  place  as  required  by  the  Postal  Services  Directive  but  there  is  very  little 
competition in the letter mail segment in all Member States and full market opening has not lead 
to the appearance of European wide providers of letter mail services. Promoting a well-functioning 
and  competitive  internal  market  remains  valid  and  relevant  for  postal  users,  undertakings  and 
employees alike, especially in Member States or regions where there has been less decline in letter 

7 

 
 
mail. Evidence shows that where there has been some competition this has resulted in lower prices, 
better quality  and more  innovation.  Respondents  to  the Commission’s open public  consultation 
confirm that the promotion of competition remains important. 

The absence of more developed provisions on access to the postal network may have contributed 
to the low uptake of competition in the letter mail segment 

The  main  reasons  for  the  very  concentrated  letter  mail  segment  include  high  entry  costs  for 
alternative postal operators and the need for substantial economies of scale and scope while the 
market  has  been  and  continuously  experiences  diminishing  volumes.  However,  the  absence  of 
harmonised rules allowing national  regulatory authorities to set terms for access to the network 
(providing for the possibility to introduce ex ante competition), as well as the absence of procedural 
access  rules  (e.g.,  dispute  resolution  powers  of  national  regulatory  authorities)  may  also  have 
contributed to the low uptake of competition in the letter mail segment.  

Available evidence suggests that in Member States where there has been some competition this has 
helped stimulate demand and supply and led to lower prices 

Some universal service providers argue that the need for a competitive internal market for postal 
services  should  be  reassessed  in  the  current  context  of  shrinking  demand  for  letter  mail.  The 
argument rests on concerns that selective entry into the most lucrative parts of the letter segment 
by competing operators would make it even more difficult to sustain the universal service, which 
is already constrained by declines in letter mail volumes. While this is an important argument to 
consider,  available  evidence  does  not  support  such  concerns.  To  the  contrary,  evidence  also 
suggests that in Member States where there has been some competition this has helped stimulate 
demand and supply and enabled the letter mail market to expand. This also provided incentives for 
universal  service  providers  to  become  more  efficient  and  thus  contribute  to  guaranteeing  the 
universal service. Importantly, available evidence suggests that where access to the incumbent’s 
network  was  granted  under  transparent  and  non-discriminatory  conditions  to  different  types  of 
operators and consolidators, postal users, especially businesses, have benefited from lower prices. 

In contrast to the universal service providers, the European Regulators’ Group for Postal Services 
considers that promoting competition in letter mail markets remains valid and important. This is 
because a lack of competition, or even potential competition, deprives users of potential benefits 
in  terms  of  choice  of  providers,  lower  prices,  better  quality  and  product  innovation.  Promoting 
competition is especially important in Member States and markets where volumes of letter mail 
are  still  or  are  likely  to  remain  significant  such  as,  for  instance,  bulk  mail  from  large  business 
senders and public administrations. There may therefore be a case for reviewing access and price 
transparency provisions.   

The use of public procurement for  the designation of the universal service provider could have 
contributed  to  increased  competition  and  led  to  higher  quality  and  more  affordable  universal 
services 

8 

 
 
Procurement procedures have not been used to date for ensuring universal service provision (except 
in limited cases for the distribution of newspapers), neither for the entire territory of a Member 
State  nor  for  parts  of  it,  even  though  public  procurement  can  encourage  competition.  Member 
States  continue  to  designate  a  single  universal  service  provider  for  the  entire  national  territory.  
Available information did not allow a proper assessment of why Member States do not use public 
procurement procedures. Despite the fact that letter mail volume is declining it cannot be excluded 
that public procurement  could  still be a relevant  means to  encourage competition, especially in 
Member States and for market segments where letter mail is still important. The issue merits further 
consideration. 

In contrast to the letter mail segment, the parcel delivery segment is highly competitive 

The developments in the parcel delivery segment stand in stark contrast to developments in the 
letter mail segment. As opposed to letter mail where the statutory monopoly was abolished with 
the 2008 amendment to the Postal Service Directive, there was never such a monopoly for parcel 
delivery. In most Member States, there is competition in the parcel delivery segment, which has 
led to innovative improvements to delivery services. Demand is continuously increasing mainly 
because of e-commerce and options for delivery of parcels are following suit, contrary to the trend 
seen  in  the  letter  mail.  At  the  same  time,  despite  what  could  be  expected  from  an  effective 
competitive environment with growing volumes, the public tariffs of parcel delivery services are 
slowly growing. The information and evidence collected for the purpose of the present evaluation 
does not allow firm conclusions on the reasons behind this trend. 

The relationship between the Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services and the Postal 
Service Directive 

To  increase  transparency  over  the  EU  parcel  delivery  market,  the  Commission  adopted  the 
Regulation  on  cross-border  parcel  delivery  services  in  2018  as  a  self-standing  legal  act, 
independent from the Postal Services Directive. The Regulation is a targeted legal act focusing on 
regulatory  oversight  in  relation  to  parcel  delivery  services,  on  transparency  and  assessment  of 
single-piece  tariffs  for  cross-border  parcel  delivery  services,  and  information  to  consumers 
concerning cross-border parcel delivery services.   

The Regulation in particular increases the transparency of publicly listed tariffs for certain single-
piece parcels  and provides for an assessment procedure to identify tariffs that are unreasonably 
high. It also requires parcel delivery service providers to report certain key information about their 
activities, including turnover, volumes, and staffing, to the national regulatory authority where they 
are established. The Regulation therefore extends the regulatory oversight of national regulatory 
authorities and increases transparency for users of single-piece, non-negotiated, parcel services. At 
the same time the functioning of cross-border parcel markets for the bulk of e-commerce volumes, 
i.e. negotiated tariffs, is not subject to specific transparency mechanisms, including the principles 
underpinning the tariff structures for cross-border and domestic services.    

9 

 
 
3.  Findings regarding harmonizing principles for the regulation of postal services 

The  purpose  of  establishing  harmonized  principles  for  the  postal  services  sector  was  to  create 
similar competitive conditions for postal operators across the EU. The objective was to facilitate 
the establishment of postal service providers and to ensure that postal users across the EU enjoy 
the  same  level  of  postal  services.  However,  as  the  Postal  Service  Directive  is  a  minimum 
harmonisation  directive  and  is  principle-based,  differences  in  national  implementation  and 
application have occurred. Since  postal markets continue to be very diverse and evolve differently 
and  in  many  Member  States  the  universal  service  providers  are  still  controlled  by  the  State, 
establishing a set of harmonised and unbiased principles at EU-level for the regulation of the postal 
sector remains relevant both for the Single Market and international trade. 

There are repeated claims that the existing concepts do not allow for proper market delineation 
and are implemented in different ways, leading to legal uncertainty and inconsistency 

The  current  definitions  have  remained  unchanged  since  the  adoption  of  the  Postal  Services 
Directive in 1997. There have been repeated claims that the lack of harmonization of terms and 
definitions  of  postal  products  and  services  has  led  not  only  to  legal  fragmentation  and  legal 
uncertainty but also to incoherencies with other EU regulatory frameworks, which use the same 
terms but with a different meaning. A recent report of the European Regulators Group for Postal 
Services also points to these issues, highlighting that in the context of a changing postal market 
some  definitions  may  not  properly  capture  services  that  should  be  captured  because  of  their 
similarity with postal services. 

None of the above has resulted in any measurable problems from the perspective of postal service 
providers.  Moreover, stakeholders have not been able to demonstrate an actual negative impact on 
postal providers and users. Available evidence has not indicated that any lack of clarity has caused 
any  relevant  internal  market  problems  or  barriers  to  entry  for  postal  service  providers.  To  the 
contrary, the situation has sometimes provided Member States with much welcomed flexibility in 
determining the scope of their own postal services regulation.   

At the same time, it is recognised that structural and technological changes in the postal sector may 
inevitably  call  into  question  their  continued  relevance  and  suitability.  In  response  to  the 
Commission’s  open  public  consultation,  postal  operators  favoured  preserving  the  current 
definitions,  while  the  majority  of  national  regulatory  authorities  favoured  a  review  of  certain 
definitions.  

Technical standards are not sufficiently used which may negatively impact interoperability 

Regarding technical standards, the evaluation concludes that postal standardization has not led to 
sufficient harmonization and interoperability. The interconnection of postal networks is becoming 

10 

 
 
 
increasingly  relevant  to  promote  quality  of  service,  innovative  services  and  European 
interoperability  of  letter  and  parcel  delivery  operations.  With  the  exception  of  the  standard 
regarding the measurement of cross-border mail quality and the standard on complaint handling, 
standards  drawn  up  by  the  European  Committee  for  Standardization  are  of  a  voluntary  nature.  
Where standards are mandatory they are still not always applied. This means that universal service 
providers  sometimes  use  different  technical  standards  or  possibly  no  standards  at  all.  There  is 
insufficient information on the effective implementation and application of the voluntary standards 
by postal operators. The situation reduces clarity and legal certainty and may lead to unnecessary 
costs and interoperability issues. Therefore, there is a case for assessing the use of standards by 
postal operators. 

Oversight by national regulatory authorities has improved 

Alignment of the Directive  with  strong  independence provisions  such  as  those in  the  European 
Electronic Communications Code appears to be an effective way to ensure that, in the exercise of 
its  tasks,  a  national  regulatory  authority  is  protected  against  external  intervention  or  political 
pressure liable to jeopardise its independent assessment of matters coming before it. During the 
reference  period,  national  regulatory  authorities  have  received  more  and  better  information  to 
perform  their  tasks  and  regulatory  oversight  has  as  a  consequence  significantly  expanded  and 
improved, with the exception of information regarding terminal dues, as noted above. As more and 
more cross-border issues have become an integral part of regulatory activity, close cooperation of 
national regulatory authorities contributes to a more consistent and harmonized approach among 
national regulatory authorities in enforcing the Directive. 

IV.  THE FUTURE: CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK 

To  ensure  that  postal  operators  and  users  can  fully  benefit  from  technological  developments, 
innovation and e-commerce, while also securing the continued provision of an affordable and high 
quality universal service, it is desirable, building on the evaluation and the experience of more than 
20 years of application of the Postal Services Directive to further explore potential adaptation in 
the future of the regulatory framework in a way that would also provide the necessary conditions 
for the EU postal service to continue to play its role effectively in the economy. Any such steps 
must also be coherent with, and support, EU level horizontal actions taken within the context of 
the EU Green Deal and the EU Digital Agenda.  In doing so, the Commission will continue its 
efforts to engage with Member States and other stakeholders. 

11