Postal operators fear that European Commission plans to investigate problems with cross-borderparcel deliveries within Europe could lead to “re-regulation” of pricing and other areas, senior
industry figures said this week.In January, the Commission presented an ‘Action Plan’ designed to complete the ‘Digital SingleMarket’ and to stimulate growth and employment in the e-commerce sector. At present, e-commerceonly accounts for 3.4% of retail sales in Europe but the body aims to double this share by2015.
The Commission highlighted “inefficient deliveries” as one of the key obstacles to e-commercegrowth, with alleged problems including high prices and poor service quality. A study for theCommission stressed three main problem areas: significant price differences for large and smallsenders; user concerns about service quality; and a lack of information about alternatives topostal services.
Joost Vantomme, chairman of PostEurop’s European Affairs Committee and bpost’s director ofregulatory affairs, told this week’s European Postal Services conference in Rome that the parcelsmarket had been de-regulated for many years. E-commerce delivery affected not only Posts but alsoexpress operators and transport companies, he pointed out.
“We don’t think there’s a case for trying to re-regulate pricing at an EU level,” he declared.Instead, there was potential for more collaboration between delivery providers and more innovation,“for example, with a roaming-like solution”, he suggested.
Werner Stengg, head of the European Commission’s E-commerce and Postal Services unit, told theaudience of postal managers that the organisation was working on a Green Paper consultationdocument with proposed actions that it planned to publish by the end of this year. It would thenconsult with the industry on the proposals.
But he stressed: “It will not be a cross-border parcels delivery directive but an action planwhich is in the interests of e-commerce. The objectives are that cross-border needs to be aseffective as possible.” Many players, including e-retailers, were involved and not just postaloperators, he pointed out.
The Commission official also told the conference that the extent of postal competitionfollowing full market opening in most EU countries “is not tremendous” but emphasised that the mainobjective of liberalisation was to improve postal services and not to reduce the market share ofthe incumbent.
Discussing the future of the Universal Service Obligation, Stengg emphasised that the EuropeanPostal Directive obliges postal deliveries on five days a week but there was “some flexibility” toadapt, such as regarding the density of the network. But he confirmed: “Delivery on only three daysa week would not be within the law. Now is politically not the time to renegotiate this.”
Looking ahead, however, Stengg added: “At some point in time, we will need to have a debateabout what the USO can and should be at a time of changing technological developments and changingcustomer needs.”
Session chairman Luis Jimenez, founder of Strategy Dialogues, raised the question of whether theUSO should be adapted to cover electronic as well as physical delivery, or to alternative locationsas well as to home addresses. “Some incumbents deliver only three days a week and customers are notcomplaining,” he noted.
