Consultation on cross-border parcel delivery

Public consultation on cross-border parcel delivery "Initiative to enchance the affordability, quality and convenience of cross-border parcel delivery"

Title

Consultation on cross-border parcel delivery

Policy field(s)

Internal market: E-commerce, Delivery, Postal services, Parcel

Target group(s)

All citizens and organisations are welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from individual citizens, companies, including SMEs, public authorities and associations interested in cross-border parcel delivery in Europe.

Period of consultation

From 06.05.2015 to 29.07.2015

Objective of the consultation

Delivery was singled out as one of the main priorities for the development of a digital single market in the EU. The purpose of this public consultation is to consult all interested parties on the main issues and possible areas of improvement for cross-border delivery services when sending packets and parcels across the EU.

E-commerce deliveries to consumers continue to drive growth in the European parcels market. At the same time, consumers and e-retailers have increasingly high expectations of delivery services when buying online. However, a lack of delivery features and high prices are obstacles for both e-retailers and consumers, hindering their further participation in e-commerce growth, particularly across borders. These barriers have already been acknowledged by the European Commission in the Green Paper on an integrated delivery market to boost e-commerce in the EU and in the Commission’s roadmap for completing the single market for parcel delivery. In these documents, the Commission identified the following challenges as action points: lack of transparency of information, excessive costs for low volume shipping, lack of convenient services for the final consumer, and lack of interoperability between the different operators typically involved in cross-border delivery.

The scope of this consultation covers packets (mail items up to 2Kg that would fit in the letter box) and parcels (mail items under 20Kg) for delivery within Europe. For the purpose of this consultation, Europe includes EU and EEA EFTA countries only(*). In addition, delivery covers shipments from a retailer to the final consumer (individual), following an online purchase, but not shipments to other businesses.

Throughout the questionnaire, the term "cross-border delivery" is used to mean the delivery of parcels, packets and express parcels (all included) between European countries, unless otherwise explicitly mentioned in the question.

Due to the possible sensitivity of some information, responses to some questions (where indicated) will be treated as confidential. In addition, any respondent can request non-publication of their contribution.

This consultation document is aimed at individual citizens, companies, including SMEs, public authorities and associations interested in cross-border parcel delivery in Europe.

(*) EU - European Union: Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; United Kingdom. EEA EFTA - Norway; Iceland; Liechtenstein; Switzerland

How to submit your contribution

We welcome contributions from citizens, organisations and public authorities.

The online questionnaire is available in English. French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish translations will be available from 9 May. Pre-set replies to the questions will also be available in those languages, but free-text boxes may be completed in any official EU language.

In the interests of transparency, the Commission asks organisations who wish to submit comments in the context of public consultations to provide the Commission and the public at large with information about whom and what they represent by registering in the Transparency Register and subscribing to its Code of Conduct. If an organisation decides not to provide this information, it is the Commission's stated policy to list the contribution as part of the individual contributions. (Consultation Standards, see COM (2002) 704, and Communication on ETI Follow-up, see COM (2007) 127 of 21/03/2007).

If you are a registered organisation, please indicate your Register ID number when replying to the online questionnaire. Your contribution will then be considered as representative of the views of your organisation.

If your organisation is not registered, you have the opportunity to Register now. Then you can return to this page and submit your contribution as a registered organisation.

The Contributions received will be published on the Internet. It is important to read the specific privacy statement attached to this consultation for information on how your personal data and contribution will be used.

View the questionnaire

Online questionnaire for the general public (EU Survey)

Online questionnaire for delivery operators (EU Survey)

Reference documents and other, related consultations

• Green paper on an integrated delivery market to boost e-commerce in the EU.
• Commission’s roadmap for completing the single market for parcel delivery.
• DSM communication.
• See the Online questionnaire for public in general(EU Survey) or Online questionnaire for delivery operators (EU Survey).

Contact details

Results of the consultation and next steps

Received contributions will be published on this web page.

• Protection of personal data

  http://ec.europa.eu/geninfo/legal_notices_en.htm#personaldata.

• Specific privay statement (72 KB).

Disclaimer

Please note that this document has been drafted for information and consultation purposes only. It has not been adopted or in any way approved by the European Commission and should not be regarded as representative of the views of Commission staff. It does not in any way prejudge, or constitute the announcement of, any position on the part of the Commission on the issues covered. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof.