Subject matter and objectives
This Regulation lays down specific provisions to foster better cross-border parcel delivery services, in addition to those laid down in Directive 97/67/EC, concerning:
(a)
regulatory oversight related to parcel delivery services;
(b)
transparency of tariffs, and assessment of tariffs for certain cross-border parcel delivery services for the purpose of identifying those that are unreasonably high;
(c)
information for consumers made available by traders concerning cross-border parcel delivery services.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions in Article 2 of Directive 97/67/EC and in points 1, 2 and 5 of Article 2 of Directive 2011/83/EU apply. In addition, the following definitions apply:
(1)
‘parcel’ means a postal item containing goods with or without commercial value, other than an item of correspondence, with a weight not exceeding 31,5 kg;
(2)
‘parcel delivery services’ means services involving the clearance, sorting, transport and distribution of parcels;
(3)
‘parcel delivery service provider’ means an undertaking that provides one or more parcel delivery services with the exception of undertakings established in one Member State alone, that only provide domestic parcel delivery services as part of a sales contract and as part of the contract personally deliver goods that are subject of that contract to the user;
(4)
‘subcontractor’ means an undertaking that provides the clearance, sorting, transport or distribution of parcels for the parcel delivery service provider.
Level of harmonisation
The requirements laid down in this Regulation are minimum requirements and shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or introducing additional necessary and proportionate measures in order to achieve better cross-border parcel delivery services, provided that those measures are compatible with Union law.
