42 Amendments of Markus FERBER related to 2016/0149(COD)
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a regulation
–
–
The European Parliament rejects the Commission proposal.
Amendment 80 #
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend itsvise and substantially amend the proposal;
Amendment 84 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The tariffs applicable to low volume senders of cross-border parcels and other postal items, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals, are still relatively high. This has a direct negative impact on users seekingconsumers and users of cross- border parcel delivery services, especially and on online the context of e-commerce.rade in the EU single market
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) There are fundamental differences between Member States when it comes to competences conferred on national regulatory authorities with regard to market monitoring and regulatory oversight of parcel delivery providers. This has been confirmed by a joint report48 prepared by the European Regulators Group for Postal Services and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, who concluded that national regulatory authorities need the appropriate regulatory powers to intervene and that such powers do not seem to be present in all Member States. Those differences result . Where cross-border parcel delivery prices are found to be unreasonably high, national regulatory authorities can require the parcel delivery services to supply relevant price information without this entailing additional administrative burdens and compliance costs for parcel delivery service providers who operate cross- border. Those differences therefore constitute an obstacle to the cross-border provision of parcel delivery services and thus have a direct effect on the functioning of the internal market. _________________ 48 BoR (15) 214/ERGP PL (15) 32.
Amendment 91 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The market for cross-border parcel delivery services is diverse and complex, with different providers offering different services and prices depending on weight, size and format of the items sent as well as destination, added value features, such as traceability solutions, and the number of items sent. That diversity makes it hard for consumers and users to compare parcel delivery services hard to compareas between different providers, both in terms of quality and price. Furthermore, low volume senders, such as small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals are often not aware of the existence of different parcel delivery services offered, because they are often not aware of the existence of different parcel delivery options for similar services in cross- border online trade. It should be made easier, in particular, for small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals to access the relevant information.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) In order to improve the affordability of cross-border parcel delivery services, especially for consumers and users in remote or sparsely populated areas, it is necessary to improve the transparency of public lists of tariffs for a limited set of cross-border parcel delivery services offered by universal service providers, which are mostly used by small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals. Transparency of public lists is also necessaryparcel delivery services offered by universal service providers must comply with the Universal Service Obligation affordability criteria, so as to address the issue of high tariffs of cross-border delivery services and to reduce, where applicable, unjustified tariff differences between national and cross-border parcel delivery services.
Amendment 98 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) In order to improve the affordability of cross-border parcel delivery services, especially for usconsumers in remote or sparsely populated areas and also for small and medium-sized enterprises and other users, it is necessary to improve the transparencaccessibility of public lists of tariffs for a limited set of cross-border parcel delivery services offered by universal service providers, which are mostly used by small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals. Transparency of public lists is also necessary to address the issue of high tariffs of cross-border delivery services and to reduce, where applicable, unjustified tariff differences between national and cross-border parcel delivery services.
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Currently, postal services are regulated by Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council49 . This Directive establishes common rules governing the provision of postal services and the universal postal service in the Union. It focuses primarily, but not exclusively, on national universal services and does not address r. Regulatorys’ oversight of parcel delivery service providers, transparency of tariffs and terminal rates for certain cross-border parcel delivery services, the assessment of the affordability of tariffs within their own territory must be independent. Tariffs for cross-border parcel delivery services should be evaluated by the national regulatory authorities in accordance with uniform certain cross- border parcel delivery services and transparent and non-discriminatory access to certain cross-borderriteria so as to make it easier for consumers and other users to compare parcel delivery services and/or infrastructure. This Regulation therefore complemstrengthents, insofar as cross-border parcel delivery services are concerned, the rules set out in Directive 97/67/EC. _________________ 49 Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service (OJ L 1, 21.1.1998, p 14 - 25).
Amendment 106 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Currently, postal services are regulated by Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council49 . This Directive establishes common rules governing the provision of postal services and the universal postal service in the Union. It focuses primarily, but not exclusively, on national universal services and does not address regulatory oversight of parcel delivery service providers, transparency of tariffs and terminal rates for certain cross-borCompliance with the minimum universal service requirements laid down in the directive is ensured by national regulatory authorities appointed by the Member States. Where universal service providers’ parcel delivery services, the assessment of the affordability of tariffs for certain cross- border parcel delprices are considered not to be affordable, the regulatory authority takes measures in respect of the univerysal services and transparent and non-discriminatory access to certain cross-border parcel delivery services and/or infrastructure. This Regulation therefore complements, insofar as cross-border parcel delivery services are concerned, the rules set out in Directive 97/67/EC providers in line with Directive 97/67/EC . The Commission ensures that compensation for the provision of universal services in the Member States is proportionate and reasonable and that competition rules are adhered to. _________________ 49 Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service (OJ L 1, 21.1.1998, p 14 - 25).
Amendment 113 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) An estimated 80 % of addressed postal items generated by e-commerce today weigh less than two kilograms, and are often processed in the letter-post mail stream. It is important thatn order to prevent unfair competitive practices, those postal items armust be subject to this Regulation, notably to the requirements on transparency of tariffs and the assessment of their affordability.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Therefore, it is important to provide a clear definition of parcel delivery services and to specify which postal items are covered by that definition. This concerns in particular postal items, other than items of correspondence, which because of their weight are commonly used for sending goods and merchandise. This Regulation should therefore cover, in line with consistent practice, postal items weighing up to 31.5 kg, as heavier items cannot be handled by a single average individual without mechanical aids. In line with current practice and Directive 97/67/EC, each step in the postal chain, i.e. clearance, sorting and delivery should be considered parcel delivery services. Transport alone that is not undertaken in conjunction with one of those steps should fall outside the scope of parcel delivery services as it can in this case be assumed that this activity is part of the transport sector.
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) Terminal rates are based on multilateral and bilateral agreements between universal service providers and ensure that the destination universal service provider is remunerated proportionately and reasonably for the costs of the service provided to the originating universal service provider. Compliance with competition rules is monitored by the Commission. Terminal rates should be defined in such a way that it includes both terminal dues, as defined in point 15 of Article 2 of Directive 97/67/EC that are applied for letter mail items and inward land rates that are applied to parcels.
Amendment 127 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) It is necessary that national regulatory authorities have knowledge and information for statistical purposes about parcel delivery service providers active on the market. However, in order to limit tData collected in respect of terminal dues should be processed under conditions of strict secrecy because they include trade secrets, in accordance with free-market principles. The administrative burden for smallon parcel delivery service providers who are only active on a national or regional market, a threshold should be applied, based on the number of persons working for thes should not be unduly increased. A threshold should be applied so as not to impose an undue administrative burden on smaller parcel delivery service providers and involved in the provision of parcel delivery services. ctive only on a national or regional market.
Amendment 131 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) When providing information to the national regulatory authority, it should be taken into accountNational regulatory authorities must, in order to avoid duplication and the imposition of unnecessary additional administration and costs, ensure that parcel delivery service providers maywhich have already provided certain information to the same national regulatory authoritysupplied their information are not required to supply it a second time. Parcel delivery services are important for small and medium-sized enterprises and individualconsumers and they should be able to compare easily between different providers. Therefore, the services for which tariffs should be provided by universal service providers should be clearly defined. Those tariffs should be published by the Commission on a dedicated webpage and should, together with the; the data collected about terminal dues, to be provided confidentially and regular provision of the underlying terminal ratly to the national regulatory authorities, constitute the basis for the national regulatoryose authorities to assess the affordability of tariffs for cross-border parcel delivery services. Parcel delivery service providers other than universal service providers may voluntarily provide, in a comparable form, their national regulatory authority with the tariffs for the same items provided that such items are delivered at the home or the premises of the addressee.
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Because of their small size and dimensions, certain postal items should not be subject to these obligations set out with regard to transparency of tariffs. The postal items subject to those obligations should therefore have a minimum width of 20 mm.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) When national regulatory authorities annually assess the affordability of tariffs, they should base themselves on objective criteria, such as the domestic tariffs of the originating universal service providers and the destination universal service providers and the level of terminal rates. Those common criteria may be complemented by other criteria of particular relevance for explaining the tariffs in question, such as specific , such as transportation or handling costs and bilateral volumes between different cross- border parcel delivery service providers.
Amendment 139 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Uniform tariffs for cross-border deliveries to two or more Member States may be important in the interest of protecting regional and social cohesion. In this context it should be considered that, consideration should be given to the need to promote e- commerce offers new opportunities for sparsely populated areas to participate in thein sparsely populated areas so as to enable consumers in such areas to participate in online trade and to boost their regional economic lifes. It is therefore necessary to take any uniform tariffs fully into account when assessing the affordability of parcel delivery services.
Amendment 169 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) the transparency of tariffs and terminal rates for certainuniversal-service cross- border parcel delivery services and the assessment of the affordability of certainsuch cross-border tariffs;
Amendment 174 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) “parcel delivery services” means services involving the clearance, sorting, transport orand distribution of postal items other than items of correspondence; transport alone shall not be considered a parcel delivery service; delivery of such items exceeding 31,5 kg shall not be considered a parcel delivery service;
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. AIf they have not already been requested to do so by the Member State national regulatory authority, all parcel delivery service providers shall submit the following information to the national regulatory authority of the Member State in which they are established:
Amendment 207 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the name of the providerarcel delivery service, its legal status and form, registration number in a trade or similar register, VAT number, the address of the establishment and a contact person;
Amendment 209 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) the nature of the services offered by the providerarcel delivery service;
Amendment 213 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) the providerarcel delivery service’s general conditions of sale, including a detailed description of the complaints procedure.
Amendment 216 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. By 31 Marchy of each calendar year, all parcel delivery service providers shall submit the following information to the national regulatory authority of the Member State in which they are established unless the national regulatory authority has already requested such information:
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 5
Article 3 – paragraph 5
5. The national regulatory authorities may impose, in line with article 22 of Directive 97/67/EC, information requirements additional to those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 where they are necessary to ensure conformity with this Regulation.
Amendment 237 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Where information is considered confidential by a national regulatory authority, in accordance with Community and national business confidentiality rules, the Commission and the national regulatory authorities concerned shall preserve such confidentiality.
Amendment 259 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Amendment 271 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Amendment 275 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Amendment 284 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a Maximum cross-border terminal rates 1. With effect from 1 January 2019, the maximum cross-border terminal rate for the delivery of postal items falling within the categories listed in the Annex, which destination universal service provider charges to the operator in the originating Member State, equals to the least expensive tariff of destination universal service provider for the universal service corresponding to the service being the subject of cross-border parcel delivery service. The least expensive tariff is the tariff setting the lowest price for a given national universal service, taking into account any discounts or rebates that a universal service provider has included in its price list or other document specifying the price terms for the universal services. 2. Universal service providers are required to apply rates in transparent and non-discriminatory manner. The cross- border terminal rates are published in the reference offer referred to in Article 6 paragraph 3.
Amendment 285 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The national regulatory authority shall assess the affordability of universal services with reference to cross- border tariffs included in the public lists of tariffson the basis of the information obtained in accordance with Article 4(1) within 3 months of receipt of that information, in order to ensure the affordability of universal services in their own territory. In that assessment, in particular the following elements shall be taken into account:
Amendment 292 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Amendment 296 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Amendment 299 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Amendment 302 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point c
Amendment 316 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Article 5 – paragraph 2
2. Where the national regulatory authority concludes that cross-border tariffs referred to in paragraph 1 are not affordable, it shallmay request further necessary information and/or justification in relation to the level of those tariffs from the universal service provider.
Amendment 333 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. The national regulatory authority shall submit its assessment, including anyand any requisite non-confidential information and/or justification provided in accordance with paragraph 3, to the Commission, the national regulatory authorities of the other Member States and the national authorities within the Member State of the submitting national regulatory authority entrusted with the implementation of competition law. A non- confidential version of that assessment shall also be provided to the Commission. That information shall be provided by 31 March of each calendar year at the latest.
Amendment 338 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6
Article 6
Amendment 373 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) whether the affordability of cross- border parcel delivery services has improved throughout the EU, including for usconsumers located in remote or sparsely populated areas;
Amendment 377 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b