A new ‘universal service obligation’ for an ‘integrated parcels delivery market’ and potentialprice controls are the most eye-catching possible measures in a European Commission Green Paper
consultation released yesterday as ways to overcome barriers to cross-border parcel deliveries inEurope and to help boost the continent’s ambitious e-commerce growth plans.In the 28-page Green Paper document, the Commission raised the question of whether a ‘parcelsUSO’ to ensure minimum service levels was necessary and outlined various options to reduceexcessive cross-border prices, including cost controls and pricing regulation. It specificallyasked stakeholders if “applying some type of price cap for single piece cross-border packets andparcels would be a feasible and effective option”.
The suggestions could confirm fears among postal and parcels operators that the Brusselsauthority sees ‘re-regulation’ as the best way to stimulate more cross-border sales and thusdeliveries of goods rather than relying on market forces to overcome the acknowledged barriers,according to observers.
In its long-awaited consultation paper issued yesterday, the Commission said studies show thatonly 9% of EU consumers buy goods online from other countries. Both e-retailers and consumersexpress concerns about the shortcomings of current delivery systems used for goods ordered online,with 57% of e-retailers considering cross-border delivery to be an obstacle to trading, while 47%of consumers worry about delivery in cross-border transactions.
An efficient delivery (and return) system is key to facilitating further growth in e-commerceand therefore consumer choice and convenience, and there is an urgent need to address deliveryconcerns and improve delivery systems, the EC declared. This is why it has adopted a Green Paperconsultation on the delivery of parcels, with special emphasis on cross-border issues ande-commerce needs.
“This Green Paper consultation will help identify the right measures to improve parcel deliveryin the single market,” said Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.“A flexible and well-performing EU-wide delivery system focusing on the expectations of consumersand specific needs of e-commerce will contribute directly to the enormous potential of e-commercefor boosting growth and creating jobs.”
Not only would consumers and e-retailers benefit from better functioning delivery systems butlarge delivery companies would profit from additional volumes while smaller delivery operatorswould gain a framework for cross-border cooperation, it stated.
The Commission said that three priority areas have been identified to address the problems andchallenges faced by consumers and e-retailers in the EU:
* Improving convenience of delivery services for consumers and SMEs across the EU;
* Ensuring more cost-effective delivery solutions and better prices for consumers and SMEs;
* Promoting improved interoperability of delivery services between operators (betterpartnerships and cooperation), and between operators and e-retailers, notably SMEs.
At the start of 2012, the European Commission already highlighted cross-border deliveryobstacles, including high prices and poor service quality, as restrictions to the overall plan todouble e-commerce revenues in Europe by 2015. A previous study by UK-based FTI Consultinghighlighted three main problem areas: significant price differences for large and small senders;user concerns about service quality; and a lack of information about alternatives to postalservices. The consultants recommended giving postal regulators powers to monitor cross-borderprices and to publish operators’ service quality performance.
With the Green Paper, the Commission will collect information on the current state of thedelivery market for products bought online, and identify any potential hurdles for the creation ofan EU-wide integrated parcel delivery market. It will seek stakeholders’ views on how best to servethe interests of customers, businesses and end-consumers. Stakeholders, including postal and parceloperators, have until 15 February 2013 to respond to the consultation.
After that, the Commission said it will “identify solutions to help develop a seamless parceldelivery process in the EU in order to support the growth of e-commerce, and ensure that thebenefits of e-commerce are accessible to all citizens and SMEs across all regions in Europe via asustainable and well-functioning delivery system”. It said it would “identify the set of actions tobe taken to complete the single market for parcels” by spring 2013.
The existing EU Postal Directives focus largely on the domestic markets for deliveries ofparcels and letters, where full market opening will be completed as of January 2013. Cross-borderparcels, however, which have been de-regulated much longer, are covered both by these directives interms of the USO and also national competition law. But it is not always clear which cross-borderparcel products fall under USO regulations and which do not on the grounds that they arevalue-added express products.
