Irish parcel operators face fierce competition in a growing e-commerce delivery market
11 June 21
Celine Senay
A report from Irish regulator ComReg highlights that e-commerce is the key driver for the significant growth in demand for parcel delivery services. Parcel delivery operators have responded to postal users’ needs, providing better and more flexible delivery services, with new features. However, the market is highly competitive, with e-commerce retailers, especially the major players, able to negotiate discounted prices.
Infringement proceedings against Greece for non-compliance with postal VAT rules
09 June 21
Peter Dunn
The European Commission has taken infringement proceedings against Greece for failing to respect the VAT rules on postal services. The Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Greece for wrongly continuing to exempt from VAT individually negotiated services provided by the USP, Hellenic Post (ELTA).
EU General Court partially annuls Commission's state aid clearance for Post Danmark
20 May 21
Peter Dunn
The General Court of the EU (GC) partially annulled the European Commission's 2018 decision to approve state aid funding for Post Danmark. In particular, the GC found that the Commission was incorrect in deciding that a specific VAT exemption and capital increases for Post Danmark did not constitute state aid.
Portuguese NRA approves final decisions on the future of universal service provision
17 May 21
Teresa Felix
ANACOM approved the obligations that must be observed by the future universal service provider after the end of the current concession. The approved decisions maintain most of the proposals set out in the draft decisions of June 2020.
Spain riders' law, presuming riders to be employees, enters into force next August
14 May 21
Carmen Mateas
Royal decree-law 9/2021 was published on 12 May 2021, applying from 12 August 2021. The law (known as the “riders' law”) amends Spain's labour legislation “to guarantee the labour rights of people working in delivery services in the context of digital platforms”.
ERGP proposes change to pre-assessment filter so fewer cross-border parcel tariffs would be assessed
07 May 21
Armen Ghalumyan
The ERGP proposes that the percentage used in the pre-assessment filter mechanism for cross-border parcel tariffs should be reduced from the current 25% to 20%, possibly as from 2022. By reducing the number of tariffs to be assessed by NRAs, the administrative burden for NRAs and USPs would be lessened, while maintaining the regulatory requirement to identify unreasonably high tariffs. This was the conclusion of the ERGP’s input, as requested by the European Commission.