Online retailers and parcel delivery providers will have to start publishing prices for cross-border parcel deliveries within Europe next year under a political compromise deal sealed by EU institutions over the last fortnight.
After months of complex discussions over a proposed regulation, the European Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers agreed on a provisional text on December 13. The Council of Ministers formally approved it on Wednesday (December 20). The regulation is expected to formally enter into force at the beginning of next year and will be fully applicable in 2019.
The regulation is designed to counter alleged high prices for SMEs and consumers for cross-border parcel deliveries within Europe by making them more transparent and affordable and by improving regulatory oversight of the EU parcel market.
The European Commission described the new regulation as “a key pillar” of its efforts to boost e-commerce to allow consumers and companies, in particular SMEs, to buy and sell products and services online more easily and confidently across the EU.
Vice-President Andrus Ansip, responsible for the Digital Single Market, said: "High delivery prices are a major concern for consumers and companies, especially SMEs. With more transparency and a stronger role for the regulators, we are tackling this issue. It is good news again for the development of e-commerce in the EU, after a series of agreements to improve consumer protection, simplify VAT rules and fight unjustified geo-blocking. I thank the European Parliament and the Estonian Presidency for their efforts in reaching an agreement."
Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska, in charge of Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, added: "Millions of Europeans choose to buy presents online, but still face many obstacles, including high delivery prices and unclear return options. With today's agreement we are one step closer to changing that, helping consumers and companies reap the full benefit of the EU Single Market and cross-border e-commerce within the EU.”
Urve Palo, Estonian Minister for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology, commented: “These rules will make it easier for consumers and businesses to check which cross-border parcel delivery firms offer the best rates. This will encourage consumers to choose from a wider range of products and to buy more online. It will also offer new possibilities for retailers, especially small businesses, which do not have the bargaining power to negotiate better rates.”
The main elements of the new regulation on cross-border parcel delivery, according to the Commission, are:
* Price transparency: While the Regulation does not impose a cap on prices, it will foster competitive pressure by allowing users to easily compare domestic and cross-border tariffs. Parcel delivery providers will have to disclose prices for the services individual consumers and small businesses often use, which the Commission will publish on a website.
* Regulatory oversight: Where parcel delivery is subject to the universal service obligation, National Regulatory Authorities will assess whether tariffs for cross-border services are unreasonably high compared to the underlying cost – as they already do for postal services. National regulators will be given new powers to identify better parcel service providers and the services they offer. This will allow them to get a better overview also of the many innovative new players in the fast-growing EU cross-border e-commerce market.
* Traders also have to provide consumers with clear information on prices charged for cross-border parcel delivery and returns, and customer complaints procedures, in line with the Consumers Rights Directive.
In response to the compromise agreement, PostEurop, representing postal operators in Europe, told CEP-Research today: “We appreciate the improvements made by the EU negotiators to the original proposal e.g. the removal of a mandatory third-party access to multilateral agreements and a better protection of highly sensitive business data. As for the affordability assessments of cross-border tariffs we are pleased to see that the local regulatory authorities have been given more discretion. Even though, we continue to believe that the measure as such may be disproportionate.”
Ecommerce Europe, which represents e-commerce retailers and associations across Europe, pointed out: “It is important to stress that during the legislative process the scope of the proposal has been widened and “traders” have been included in the text informally agreed by EU legislators last week. Specifically, traders will have to provide consumers with clear information on prices charged for cross-border parcel delivery and returns, and customer complaints procedures (article 6a).”
The association said it is assessing how the new requirement on publishing prices and customer complaints will affect online merchants, including with regard to the Consumers Rights Directive (CRD).
Ecommerce Europe added: “It is worth mentioning that the Commission recognizes the role of industry-led initiatives to improve the quality of parcel delivery services in Europe, referring explicitly to the work Ecommerce Europe has done in setting up the Ecommerce Europe Trustmark.”
