The Estonian presidency of the Council of the EU and representatives of the European Parliament managed in the night of 13 to 14 December to reach provisional interinstitutional agreement on new rules to make the charges for cross border parcel delivery more transparent and give greater powers to regulators for monitoring this market.
The agreement was signed after only two trialogue negotiating meetings and now needs to be confirmed by the Parliament and the Council before it is considered formalised.
The draft rules were unveiled in May 2016 at the same time as other proposals for tackling geographic limitations. It aims to stimulate online cross-border trade (see EUROPE 11558). While it does not cap the price of parcel delivery across borders, it does plan to introduce as much transparency as possible in service provider practices in order to make price comparisons more effective. It instructs, for example, the European Commission to publish on a dedicated website the charges for the sending of a package by a private individual or small company.
Limited affordability tests
The main change to the initial proposal is on market surveillance. The European Parliament and the Council decided to restrict Article 5 on affordability tests to service operators to which public service duties apply rather than to all operators. A number of close sources say this measure was subject to intense lobbying from industry.
More generally, the regulation foresees that operators shall provide consumers with clear information about invoice prices for delivery and the return of cross-border parcels, and also about clients’ appeals procedures in line with the directive on consumer rights. Traders signing sales contracts with consumers that involve the sending of cross-border parcels should in some cases provide information about parcel delivery before the contract is actually signed.
Satisfaction at the Commission
Millions of Europeans decide to buy gifts online but face a number of obstacles such as high delivery prices and unclear return options, said Internal Market Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska. She said that with this agreement, they were in the process of changing all that and helping consumers and companies take full advantage of the EU single market and cross-border e-commerce within the EU.
The new rules will come into force next year and should apply in full in 2019. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)