This section contains information (incl. Q&As, information, links to key data with regular updates) to help postal operators deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Latest news
- 12/04/2021 Commission proposes to exempt vital goods and services distributed by the EU from VAT in times of crisis
- 09/04/2021 On 31 March 2021 the French President announced a new lockdown from 3 April till 2 May 2021 due to a third wave of COVID-19 infections. Measures are stepped-up and extended to the rest of the territory for four weeks. La Poste will comply with all the measures and do its utmost to ensure customer satisfaction and operational continuity.
- 07/04/2021 The Latvian Government has lifted the state of emergency from 7 April 2021. However, due to flight cancellations and certain safety measures that remain in place, the processing of inbound and outbound postal items may still be subject to significant delays.
- 31/03/2021 To control the spread of the coronavirus, the Lithuanian Government has extended the country's lockdown until 30 April 2021. Lietuvos pastas will continue to provide postal services under certain restrictions.
- 30/03/2021 Due to the severity of the COVID-19 situation in Poland, the Polish Government has implemented a national lockdown from 20 Match to 9 April 2021. Poczta Polska will continue to provide postal services in line with public health measures and other restrictions.
- 30/03/2021 The Czech government has extended the state of emergency for a further 174 days, with effect from 28 March 2021 due to the current COVID-19 situation. Česká pošta will continue to provide postal services in line with public health measures and other restrictions.
- 30/03/2021 Due to the third wave of the pandemic, the Belgian government announced a new lockdown from 26 March until at least 25 April 2021. bpost will continue its services according to safety guidelines. More
- 25/03/2021 Parliament fast-tracks procedure to adopt Digital Green Certificate by June
- 23/03/2021 Royal Mail One Year On - Delivering through a pandemic
- 17/03/2021 The Slovakian Government has extended the state of emergency by a further 40 days, with effect from 20 March 2021.
- 17/03/2021 Further to new government measures to control the pandemic, inbound and outbound letter-post, parcel-post and EMS services remain severely disrupted.
- 17/03/2021 Commission proposes a Digital Green Certificate
- 17/03/2021 Coronavirus: A common path to Europe's safe re-opening
- 16/03/2021 The Government of Slovenia has extended the formal COVID-19 epidemic status by a further 30 days with effect from 18 March 2021.
- 11/03/2021 The Estonian government declared a nationwide lockdown on 11 March 2021
- 11/03/2021 The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has launched a new facility which aims to assist posts deliver health policies, products and services.
- 10/03/2021 Commission supports Member States in tackling coronavirus hotspots with offer of four million additional does of BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine to be delivered this month
- 05/03/2021 International Women's day 2021: COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge for gender equality
- 02/03/2021 The Czech Government has extended the state of emergency until at least 21 March 2021.
- 01/03/2021 Croatian Post, would like to inform other PostEurop Members that the measures taken to limit the spread of COVID-19 have been lifted, as of 28 February 2021.
- 01/03/2021 The Lithuanian Government has extended the full-country lockdown until 31 March 2021
- 25/02/2021 Condor takes off for Deutsche Post DHL Express
Regulatory and governance
EU briefing (external report on what's happening in Europe)
Regulatory changes
- 06/04/2021 State aid: Commission approves up to €4b French measure to recapitalise Air France
- 26/03/2021 State aid: Commission approves €24.7m of Italian support to compensate Alitalia for further damages suffered due to coronavirus outbreak
- 12/03/2021 State aid: Commission approves around €350m Finnish support to compensate Finnair for damages suffered due to coronavirus outbreak
- 11/03/2021 State aid: Commission approves €1.1b Polish scheme to further support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak
- 10/03/2021 State aid: Commission approves €511m Italian scheme to compensate commercial rail passenger operators for damages suffered
- 09/03/2021 State aid: Commission approves €2b French scheme to support uncovered fixed costs of companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak
- 26/02/2021 State aid: Commission approves €40m Italian aid measure to support coronavirus related research and development activities
Governments and stakeholder policies
- Coronavirus: Commission proposes to exempt vital goods and services distributed by the EU from VAT in times of crisis (12/04/2021)
- Coronavirus: Commission mobilises €123m for research and innovation to combat the threat of variants (07/04/2021)
- Coronavirus: Commission Health emergency preparedness and response authority (HERA) launches public consultation (06/04/21)
- Coronavirus: SURE: Commission disburses further €13b under SURE to six member States (30/03/2021)
- Coronavirus: SURE: Commission proposes additional €3.7b to six Member States to protect jobs and incomes (30/03/2021)
- Coronavirus: Commission proposes a Digital Green Certificate (17/03/2021)
- Coronavirus: Commission extends transparency and authorisation mechanism for exports of COVID-19 vaccines (11/03/2021)
- Coronavirus: European Commission authorises fourth safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 (11/03/2021)
- Coronavirus: Commission presents updated approach to fiscal policy response to coronavirus pandemic (03/03/2021)
- Coronavirus: Protecting European consumers: Safety Gate efficiently helps take dangerous COVID-19 products off the market (02/03/2021)
Best practice information and advice
Hygiene
- France: Groupe La Poste "Adoptons les bons gestes pour se protéger" poster
- Greece: Hellenic Post ELTA "Precautions against Covid-19" updated poster
- Greece: Hellenic Post ELTA "Precautions against Covid-19" poster
- Ireland: An Post "Wash your hands" poster
- Ireland: An Post "Cough and sneezes" poster
- Ireland: Public Health Advice poster
- Italy: Actions taken to combat the spread of COVID-19
- Turkey: Turkish Ministry of Health poster
Social distancing
- Denmark: Delivery without physical contact infographic
- France: Groupe La Poste infosheets
- Georgia: Georgian Post delivery information video
- Greece: Greek government's poster #menoumespiti (we stay at home)
- Greece: Greek government's logo (we stay safe) as of 28/4
- Italy: Actions taken to combat the spread of COVID-19
- Italy: AGICOM Italy video on postal measures when signing postal items
- Norway: Posten Norge Plexiglass installed at postal counters
- Spain: Correos Simple delivery measures infographic
- Switzerland: How Swisspost is protecting their employees and customers in their branches
- Turkey: Ministry of Health 14 rules poster
Self isolation
- Greece: "Stay home. ELTA takes care of you" video
- Greece: "This Easter … ELTA takes care of you!!!" video
- Portugal: CTT Portugal Post "Stay at Home" video
- UK: Royal Mail "One Year On - Delivering through a pandemic" video (23/03/2021)
- UK: Royal Mail "Delivering for the Country" video
Last updated 12 April 2021