1. CERP PLENARY
PostEurop position on the European Commission Proposal for a Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery
Elena Fernández- Rodríguez, PostEurop – EAC Chair
1 June 2017

2. PostEurop‘s position on the Commission‘s proposal
Parcel delivery markets are growing rapidly and are highly competitive…
From PO, through express operators to new business models (Amazon, Uber…)
On average, 8 different operators for domestic parcel delivery and 7 different operators for cross-border delivery (incl. USPs and competitors)
E-commerce turnover increased by 13,3% in 2015 and 12% in 2016
E-commerce barometer (2017): “Companies not selling cross‐border indicated as main reasons for not doing so because of overly restricting regulations in other Member States”

3. Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Cross-Border Parcel Delivery Services
Commission proposal
PostEurop position
Objectives
Make markets work more effectively by increasing regulatory oversight encouraging competition
Increase transparency of tariffs in order to reduce unjustifiable differences and lower tariffs for individuals and SMEs
Highly competitive market
Avoid of red tape
Proportionality
Information requirements
(Art. 3)
All parcels delivery service providers to submit to NRA: (i) Annual turnover & numbers of postal items from parcels delivery (domestic/import/export)
Only small scale operators should be exempt
New business models should be also affected
Confidentiality

4. Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Cross-Border Parcel Delivery Services
Commission proposal
PostEurop position
Transparency of tariffs
and terminal rates
(Art. 4)
USPs to report public lists prices (annex 1) to NRA and Commission as well as publication on a dedicated web-site
USPs to report terminal rates for imports to NRA, Commission and other NRAs
Support transparency (public list prices).
Should apply to ALL operators active in the market.
NO justification for transparency of terminal rates: highly sensitive business data
Affordability assessment of all prices disproportionate
Assessing
affordability of tariffs
(Art. 5)
NRA to assess affordability, taking into account domestic tariff of originating and destination MS, terminal rates and application of uniform tariff
If tariffs are not affordable, request for further information.
Affordability assessments to be submitted to COM and other NRAs
Non-confidential version to be published on the dedicated web-site
BEREC-ERGP „ before introducing any additional measure: need to evidence the problem & clear impact assessment.
Disproportionate. Since the EC expects only 5 to 10 % of the tariffs to fail the affordability assessment.
Should avoid redundancy and be limited only to cases were there is insufficient competition

5. Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Cross-Border Parcel Delivery Services
Commission proposal
PostEurop position
Transparent and non-discriminatory cross-border access (Art. 6)
USPs to meet all reasonable requests for access whenever concluding multilateral agreements on terminal rates.
USP to publish reference offer, subject to approval by NRA.
NRA may impose changes  
Disproportionate
Cross-border delivery is extremely competitive. Multi operator & partnerships.
In a free market, access should be part of normal commercial negotiations.

6. PostEurop‘s position on the Commission‘s proposal
Conclusion
Transparency of prices acceptable, but no justification for transparency of terminal rates:
Affordability assessments as drafted by the Commission:
involve significant resources and costs
restrict the post’s pricing strategies and thereby their ability to compete
entirely disproportionate, if (as expected by the Commission) only 5 to max. 10% might not be affordable
No justification for a sector-specific regulation of third party access:
Cross-border delivery provided through a variety of networks and agreements
No market failure demonstrated
Agreements and access to agreements are part of normal commercial negotiations
Applicability of general competition law sufficient
Request for a proportionate approach that reflects market conditions

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