#postalsector

On 16 April 2015, 21 European Postal Operators CEOs met with Vice President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, responding to their kind invitation to address the implementation of the Industry Initiative and the pricing of cross-border parcel delivery in the context of the Commission's broader Digital Single Market strategy to be adopted in May 2015.

A well advanced postal Industry Initiative During the office of the former Commissioner Michel Barnier, PostEurop Members from the EU28 countries as well as from Norway and Iceland have together launched an industry initiative to improve interoperability and quality of cross-border delivery, with the objective of facilitating the growth of e-commerce. 

Postal CEOs gave an update to the Commissioners on the significant progress made to date. Citizens and companies, especially SMEs, are already benefiting from the developments made.  "Today, it has never been better for customers to send parcels in Europe" affirmed Moya Greene, CEO of Royal Mail Group.

"We are aware of the efforts and want to keep the promise on no regulation for the parcels market, and build on what has been done" stated Vice President Ansip. "We count however very much on the proper implementation of the industry commitments" added Commissioner Bieńkowska.

Affordable Delivery The Postal CEOs also had the opportunity to provide more insights on the current competitive market situation, and listened to the concerns raised by the Commissioners on delivery charges. In particular they underlined the driving forces behind the pricing of parcel delivery services in order to better understand their structure and levels across the EU. "Delivery prices are very much set by the market and reflect the characteristics of parcel deliveries in the various countries" explained Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL.

A common approach to better understand the market Based on a suggestion to go for a common market analysis, the participants agreed to continue with the fruitful dialogue between the Commission and the postal operators. Specific emphasis should be given to improve the understanding and transparency of how the market is structured and functioning.

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