Postal Directive Working Group

The Postal Directive Working Group is a platform based on trust allowing the members to be informed; discuss on the latest European developments and to be aware of the different regulatory practices.

Mission

The mission of the working group is to monitor the European postal reform process thanks to a precise analysis of the various initiatives taken by European institutions (legislative proposals, studies, impact assessments, etc.) and to maintain a permanent dialogue with all postal regulatory stakeholders (institutions, regulation authorities, experts, etc.)

The Postal Directive Working Group also facilitates the exchanges between its members, especially on the national regulatory developments within the framework of the transposition of the third postal directive. The working group members have thus a tool at their disposal to put their practices into perspective and discuss the various approaches to postal regulation.

Background

The postal directive, adopted in 1997 and modified in 2002 and 2008, created a common regulatory framework whose objectives is to accomplish the Internal Market for postal services and to ensure a reliable universal postal service.

These two objectives are complemented by a series of measures linked to the regulation of postal services (e.g. the financing of the universal service, the access to the network, the tariff policy, the quality of service or accounting principles) as well as the consumer protection and the maintenance of social provisions in the postal sector.

Main achievements

The Working Group is composed by regulatory experts from EU-28 postal operators and from Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland as observer.

The work of the WG since 2005 has reinforced the cooperation between the members on topics linked to postal regulation and has developed the dialogue with the various stakeholders, especially the European Commission.

Follow-up of ERGP work

The ERGP (European Regulators Group for Postal services) was formally set up by Commission Decision 2010/C217/07 of 10 August 2010 to facilitate consultation, coordination and cooperation between NRAs and between those authorities and the Commission in order to assure the harmonized application of the postal acquis in a fully liberalized market.

The Working Group follows the work of ERGP and contributes to the discussion via eventually adopting position papers on the ERGP deliverables put under public consultation.

Updated on 16 April 2021