The 25th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics took place in Barcelona from May 24-27, 2017. Cullen International chaired the session on USO regulatory challenges and contributed a paper discussing 'how e-commerce is shaping a new regulatory framework on parcel delivery' (available on demand). This report summarizes the key findings of the conference.

The conference gathered European and American academics, as well as representatives from several postal operators, express couriers, trade unions, national regulatory authorities and the European Commission.

The European Commission should focus on improving regulatory certainty and flexibility in the existing postal regulatory framework instead of launching new “unnecessary” regulatory measures, such as the draft Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery.

In particular, universal service obligations (USO) should be redefined to ensure their sustainability in a declining market. These were two of the key messages heard at the 25th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics which took place at the end of May in Barcelona.