EU's top court holds that courier operators can be required to contribute to the funding of national regulators
21 September 23
Michael van Maris van Dijk
The Court of Justice of the European Union has held that express courier operators can be asked to bear the cost of regulating the universal service.
Furthermore, regulators' administrative and institutional costs can be counted as part of the operational cost of regulating the postal sector, and regulators may be funded solely by the contribution of postal market players.
Ofcom issues provisional conclusions in access dispute between Royal Mail and Whistle
21 September 23
Michael van Maris van Dijk
Ofcom, the UK postal regulator, has published its provisional conclusions on an access dispute between Royal Mail and Whistl. Ofcom provisionally concluded that Royal Mail was entitled to pass on the costs of complying with its regulatory information obligations to Whistl. In addition, Whistl was not allowed to offer to waive these obligations.
EU Timeline
18 September 23
Javier Huerta Bravo
This edition of Cullen International’s EU Timeline highlights key regulatory developments foreseen at EU level until the end of 2023.
Ofcom will advise UK government on changing the universal postal service
13 September 23
Michael van Maris van Dijk
Ofcom, the UK postal regulator, has announced that it will carry out research into the future of the universal service. The regulator will present multiple options on the possible future regulation of the universal service obligation, and the UK government will then decide whether to take any legislative measures to make changes to the universal service.
German regulator rejects Deutsche Post application to increase letter prices
17 August 23
Dieter Kronegger
The German postal regulator, BNetzA, rejected Deutsche Post’s (DP) application to increase letter prices before the end of the current price cap period, 31 December 2024. BNetzA’s decision was based on procedural and substantive grounds, finding that DP has no legal right to request revocation of the price cap decision and also could not prove that its unit costs have increased.
Italian regulator proposes compulsory compensation for postal users
10 August 23
Peter Dunn
AGCOM, the Italian postal regulator is consulting on the introduction of compulsory minimum levels of compensation to be paid to postal users. Compensation would be paid, in some cases automatically