The European Parliament adopted by 604 to 80 with 12 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on cross-border parcel delivery services.
Parliament’s position adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:
Improving cross-border parcel delivery services: the Regulation aims to improve access to public lists of tariffs for a limited set of cross-border parcel delivery services for individuals and micro and small businesses, particularly in remote or sparsely populated areas, and for people with disabilities or reduced mobility.
To that end, certain provisions of the Regulation relate to:
- regulatory oversight of parcel delivery services;
- transparency of tariffs, and assessment of tariffs for certain cross-border parcel delivery services for the purpose of identifying those that are unreasonably high ;
- information for consumers made available by traders concerning cross-border parcel delivery services.
A “parcel" is defined a postal item containing goods with or without commercial value, other than an item of correspondence, with a weight not exceeding 31.5 kg.
The Regulation lays down minimum requirements and does not prevent Member States from applying or introducing additional measures, provided that such measures are compatible with Union law.
Provision of information: all parcel delivery service providers should communicate to the national regulatory authority of the Member State in which they are established:
- the characteristics and, if possible, a detailed description of the package delivery services they offer;
- their general terms and conditions for parcel delivery services, including details of complaints procedures for users and any potential limitations of liability.
By 30 June of each calendar year, they must submit:
- the annual turnover in parcel delivery services, broken down into domestic , incoming and outgoing cross-border parcel delivery services ;
- the number of persons working involved in the provision of parcel delivery services, including breakdowns showing the number of persons by employment status, and in particular, those working full-time and part-time, those who are temporary employees and those who are self-employed;
- the names of their subcontractors;
- where available, any publicly accessible price list applicable on 1 January of each calendar year for parcel delivery services.
Parcel delivery service providers with fewer than 50 employees and operating in one country will be exempt.
Assessment of cross-border single- piece parcel tariffs: the rules empower national authorities to objectively assess the prices of cross-border parcel delivery services that are subject to the universal service obligation but appear unreasonably high.
In that assessment, the national regulatory authority shall in particular take into account the following elements:
- the domestic and any other relevant tariffs of the comparable parcel delivery services in the originating Member State and in the destination Member State;
- any application of a uniform tariff to two or more Member States;
- bilateral volumes, specific transportation or handling costs, other relevant costs and service quality standards; and
- the likely impact of the applicable cross-border tariffs on individual and small and medium-sized enterprise users including those situated in remote or sparsely populated areas, and on individual users with disabilities or with reduced mobility, where possible without imposing a disproportionate burden.
Information to consumers: for contracts falling within the scope of Directive 2011/83/EU, all traders concluding sales contracts with consumers that include the sending of cross-border parcels shall, where possible and applicable, make available, at the pre-contractual stage, information about the cross-border delivery options in relation to the specific sales contract and charges payable by consumers for the cross-border parcel delivery, as well as, where applicable their own complaints handling policies.