Postal regulators divided on whether and how to add new environmental powers
18 December 24
Peter Dunn
Postal national regulatory authorities differ on whether there should be specific powers for them to intervene on environmental matters. A majority believed that it would be valuable to have a new power to gather data on environmental sustainability, However, regulators are divided on whether they should have powers to intervene specifically on environmental matters, with the majority being against a new power to set environmental targets.
Commission report on the future of the postal sector suggests regulatory reforms
17 December 24
Michael van Maris van Dijk
The European Commission published the final report on its study on the future of the postal sector in November 2024. The report included suggestions for policy responses to alleviate possible challenges and market failures. Amongst other policy proposals, the report suggested allowing EU member states to change delivery frequency and delivery speed under the universal service obligation.
The UK government and Royal Mail’s potential new owner reach agreement to protect the postal operator’s interests
17 December 24
Armen Ghalumyan
The UK government has reached an agreement with EP Group to clear the latter’s takeover of Royal Mail’s holding company, International Distribution Services (IDS). As part of the legally binding commitments negotiated with EP Group, Royal Mail will continue to remain as the postal universal service provider under the new ownership, while maintaining its headquarters and tax residency in the UK.
German regulator approves prices for letters and parcels in 2025–2026
12 December 24
Dieter Kronegger
The decision concludes the first price control procedure under the new Postal Act. For the first time, BNetzA regulated not only the prices of individual letters, but also business letters and consumer parcels. The price of a standard letter will increase from €0.85 to €0.95.
ANCOM proposes to designate Poșta Română as the universal service provider for 2025–2029
10 December 24
Michael van Maris van Dijk
ANCOM, the Romanian communications regulator, has proposed to designate Poșta Română as the postal universal service provider for the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2029. The regulator’s decision would also define the universal service net cost compensation methodology for the first time.
In an earlier ordinance, Poșta Română was entrusted with the public service obligation of handling documents related to a one-time tax debt amnesty for citizens.
Finnish data protection ombudsman fines Posti’s digital mailbox service for data protection breaches
04 December 24
Michael van Maris van Dijk
The Finnish data protection ombudsman has imposed a €2.4m fine on Posti, the universal service provider, for breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation. The ombudsman found that Posti used the personal data of customers to create a digital mailbox without their consent, did not properly inform customers about the mailbox, and that the app’s technical settings broke data protection obligations.