EU Council adopts rules on cross-border parcel delivery to promote e-commerce

The EU facilitates consumers and businesses to compare delivery rates in the European Union to promote e-commerce. This way, it will be more easy to oversee the complex fulfilment market. The new rules were adopted by the European Council following a preliminary agreement with the European Parliament on December 13th, 2017.

Ivaylo Moskovski, Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications says that "the rules will make information on different parcel delivery options more available, including consignment tracking services that are important for e-commerce. Adopting these rules is another milestone in the realization of the digital single market."

Delivery tariffs will be published on a website so that users can choose the best prices. This increases transparency and should create more competitive pressure in order to lower prices that can't be objectively justified. These rules could be beneficial to consumers and small(er) retailers, who are yet unable to negotiate better prices because of their smaller position in the market. The vote in the European Parliament took place on 13 March 2018. The Regulation will be signed by the two EU institutions and published in the Official Journal of the EU. It comes into force 20 days after its publication.