62 Amendments of Liisa JAAKONSAARI related to 2016/0149(COD)
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a regulation
Citation 1
Citation 1
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114, Article 169(1) and Article 169(2), point (a) thereof,
Amendment 49 #
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 seeking cross- border parcel delivery services, especially in the context of e-commerce. In addition, users report quality of service issues when sending, receiving or returning cross- border parcels and consistent technical standards in this field are in need of improvement, including in relation to environmental considerations.
Amendment 56 #
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. In most Member States, universal service providers do not have a majority share of the parcel delivery market. That diversity makes parcel delivery services hard to compare 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.
Amendment 59 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) In order to improve the affordability of cross-border parcel delivery services, especially for users in remote or sparsely populated areas, it is necessary to improve the transparency of public lists of tariffstariffs and terminal rates, for a limited set of cross-border parcel delivery services offered by universaparcel 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 nationaldomestic and cross-border parcel delivery services.
Amendment 64 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
Amendment 71 #
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 . Thisat 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-border parcel delivery services, the assessment of the affordability of tariffs for certain cross- border parcel delivery 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/ECThis Regulation therefore complements, insofar as cross-border parcel delivery services are concerned, the rules set out in Directive 97/67/EC. However, the provisions of this Regulation are without prejudice to the rights and guarantees set out in that Directive including in particular the continued provision of a universal postal service to users. _________________ 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 74 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Therefore, it is important to provide a clear definition of parcels and 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. THowever, established freight or 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 sectorgistics providers, in contrast with individual independent subcontractors of the parcel delivery service provider, should not be covered by the scope of this Regulation.
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) Terminal rates are based on multilateral and bilateral agreements between unparcel deliversaly service providers and ensure that the destination unparcel deliversaly service provider is remunerated for the costs of the service provided to the originating unparcel deliversaly service provider. 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 82 #
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 the administrative burden for small 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 the service provider and involved in the provision of parcel delivery services, but also allowing for the proper inclusion in the threshold of those working in the sector other than on a full-time, permanent basis.
Amendment 84 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) When providing information to the national regulatory authority, it should be taken into account that parcel delivery service providers may have already provided certain information to the same national regulatory authority. Parcel delivery services are important for small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals and they should be able to compare easily between different providers. Therefore, the services for which tariffs should be provided by unparcel deliversaly service providers should be clearly defined. Those tariffs should be published by the Commission on a dedicated webpage and should, together with the confidential regular provision of the underlying terminal rates, constitute the basis for the national regulatory 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 90 #
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 transportation or handling costs and bilateral volumes between different cross- border parcel delivery service providersparticularly take into account individual and small and medium-sized enterprise users living or situated in remote or sparsely populated areas, as well as such users that regularly use parcel delivery services and individual users with little disposable income.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) Significant differences between domestic and cross-border tariffs for parcel delivery services should be justified by objective criteria, such as additional costs for transport and a reasonable profit margin. Universal service providers providing parcel delivery services should be required to provide such justification without delay.
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) UnParcel deliversaly service providers providing parcel delivery services may conclude multilateral and bilateral agreements on terminal rates and may set up other programmes to facilitate the interconnectivity of their delivery networks. For reasons of non- discrimination, competing parcel delivery service providers shall be granted equal access to the terminal rates applicable between parIt is important that any practices under multilateral agreements. It may be justified that terminal rates payable by third-party parcel delivery service providers, in some cases, exceed those payable by universal service providers that are parties to such agreements. This may be the case where the parties to a mulin this respect that may be in breach of EU competition law principles and the provisions of Directive 97/67/EC are properly investilgateral agreement on terminal rates are able to demonstrate that the cost of setting up, operating and administering the agreement, the extra cost incurred by accepting and handling items from non-designated parcel delivery service providers and other such costs are not covered by the terminal rates payable by the third-party service provider in the originating Member Stated and addressed by Member States, national regulatory authorities and by the European Commission in a timely and effective manner.
Amendment 106 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
Amendment 109 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) As markets for parcel delivery services are changing fast, the Commission should re-assess the efficiency and effectiveness of this Regulation and submit a regular report to the European Parliament and the Council. That report should be accompanied, where appropriate, by legislative proposals for review to the European Parliament and the Council. That report should be produced following consultation with all appropriate stakeholders including the social dialogue committee for the postal sector.
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the obligation for parcel delivery providers to submit information to national regulatory authorities, implementingdelegated powers should be conferred on the Commission to establish a form for the submission of such information. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council50 . _________________ 50 Regulation (EU) 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13 - 18).
Amendment 117 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to establish the regulatory principles and rules necessary to improve regulatory oversight, to improve transparency of prices and establish certain principles as regardsfoster better user accessibilty to efficient and affordable cross-border parcel delivery services that should support competition, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Amendment 124 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(c a) information and price transparency for users of cross-border parcel delivery services;
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
(c b) promotion of further harmonisation of relevant quality of service and technical standards.
Amendment 131 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 a (new)
Article 1 a (new)
Article 1 a Member States may adopt or maintain in force more stringent provisions than those laid down in this Regulation for the benefit of users and where such provisions foster better user accessibility to efficient and affordable cross-border parcel delivery services.
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point -a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point -a (new)
(-a) "parcel" means a postal item with a weight not exceeding 31,5 kg; an item of correspondence alone shall not be considered a parcel;
Amendment 139 #
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 or 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 servicearcels;
Amendment 144 #
(b a) "subcontractor" means an undertaking that provides the clearance, sorting, transport or distribution of parcels for the parcel delivery service provider;
Amendment 149 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) "terminal rates" means payments from the originating unparcel deliversaly service provider to the destination unparcel deliversaly service provider and/or intermediaries where applicable for the costs of cross- border parcel delivery services in the destination Member State.;
Amendment 151 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point c a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point c a (new)
(c a) "trader" means any natural person or any legal person, irrespective of whether privately or publicly owned, who is acting, including through any other person acting in his name or on his behalf, for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession in relation to parcel delivery services covered by this Regulation.
Amendment 160 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the name of the parcel delivery service provider, its legal status and form, registration number in a trade or similar register, VAT identification number, the address of the establishment and a contact person;
Amendment 161 #
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 providerdetailed description of the parcel delivery services offered by the parcel delivery services provider, including precise information on options for users;
Amendment 165 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) the parcel delivery service provider's general terms and conditions of salefor parcel delivery services, including a detailed description of the complaints procedure for users.
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
2. In case of any change concerning information referred to in the first subparagraph of this Article, parcel delivery service providers shall inform the national regulatory authority of this change within 30 days.
Amendment 172 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. By 31 March0 April 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:
Amendment 176 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – point a
(a) the annual turnover in parcel delivery services for the previous calendar year in the Member State in which the parcel delivery service provider is established, broken down in parcel delivery services relating to nationaldomestic, incoming and outgoing cross- border postal items;
Amendment 177 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) the number of persons working for theboth directly and indirectly for the parcel delivery services provider and involved in the provision of parcel delivery services in the Member State in which the provider is established inover the previous calendar year; this information shall include quarterly breakdowns by reference to employment status, including whether full-time, part-time, temporary, on a non- guaranteed hours basis or self-employed and shall also cover persons working for subcontractors or companies to which the parcel delivery services provider outsources clearance, sorting, transport or distribution of parcels.
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – point c
Article 3 – paragraph 3 – point c
(c) the number of postal items other than items of correspondence and not exceeding 31,5 kg handledarcels handled over the previous calendar year in the Member State in which the provider is established in tharcels delivery service preovious calendar yearder is established, broken down into nationaldomestic, incoming and outgoing cross- border postal items.
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 4
Article 3 – paragraph 4
4. The Commission shall, by means of an implementing act, establish a form for the submission of the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 9adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 9a in order to supplement this Regulation by laying down a form for the submission of the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 5
Article 3 – paragraph 5
5. The national regulatory authorities may impose information requirements additional to those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 where3 provided that they are necessary and proportionate to ensure conformity with this Regulation.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 6
Article 3 – paragraph 6
6. AThis Article shall not apply to any parcel delivery service provider which employs few, together with an 50 persons shall not be subject to the obligaty subsidiaries and linked undertakings, employs, on average over the previonus ucalendear paragraph 1 year, fewer thand 20 persons, unless that provider is established in more than one Member State. The average number of persons shall include all those working on a full-time, part- time, temporary, non-guaranteed hours and self-employed basis
Amendment 212 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
1. UnAll cross-border parcel deliversaly service providers providing parcel delivery servicesfalling within the scope of Article 3 shall provide the national regulatory authority of the Member State in which they are established with the public list of tariffs applicable on 1 January of each calendar year for the delivery of postal items falling within the categories listed in the Annex. That information shall be provided by 31 Jan28 February of each calendar year at the latest.
Amendment 214 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
2. The national regulatory authorities shall without delay and by 28 February31 March of each calendar year at the latest submit the public lists of tariffs obtained in accordance with paragraph 1 to the Commission. The Commission shall publish them on a dedicated website by 30 April of each calendar year at the latest.
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Article 4 – paragraph 3
3. UnAll cross-border parcel deliversaly service providers providing parcel delivery servicesfalling within the scope of Article 3 shall provide the national regulatory authority with the terminal rates applicable on 1 January of each calendar year to postal items originating from other Member States. That information shall be provided by 31 Jan28 February of each calendar year at the latest.
Amendment 227 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
4. The national regulatory authorities shall submit the terminal rates obtained in accordance with paragraph 3 to the Commission and the national regulatory authorities of the originating Member States by 28 of February31 March of each calendar year at the latest.
Amendment 232 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The national regulatory authority shall initially assess the affordability of cross- border tariffs included in the public lists of tariffs obtained in accordance with Article 4(1) within 3 months of receipt of that information. InThe purpose of that assessment, in particular the following elements shall be taken into account:s to assess whether the cost to individuals and small and medium sized enterprises is affordable and to what extent the uptake of cross-border parcel delivery services is affected by delivery prices.
Amendment 240 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Amendment 245 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Amendment 251 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point c
Amendment 256 #
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, itIn carrying out that assessment, in particular the likely impact on the following shall be taken into account: (a) individual users with little disposable income; (b) individual and shmall request further necessary information and/or justification in relation to the level of those tariffs from the universal service providerand medium- sized enterprise users living or situated in remote or sparsely populated areas; (c) individual and small and medium- sized enterprise users that regularly use parcel delivery services.
Amendment 259 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3
Article 5 – paragraph 3
3. The universal service provider shall provide the national regulatory authority with the information and/or justification referred to in paragraph 2 within 15 working days of receipt of the requestFollowing the assessment referred to in paragraph 1, the national regulatory authority may request from the parcel delivery service provider evidence such as a justification containing any relevant information in relation to the level of those tariffs such as the specific transportation or handling costs and bilateral volumes between different cross- border parcel delivery service providers.
Amendment 262 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. The national regulatory authority shall submit its assessment, including any 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 latparcel delivery service provider shall provide the national regulatory authority with the justification referred to in paragraph 3 within one month of receipt of the request.
Amendment 266 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 5
Article 5 – paragraph 5
5. The Commissionnational regulatory authority shall psublish the non-confidential version of the assessment provided by the national regulatory authorities in accordance with paragraph 4 on the dedicated website by 30 April of each calendar year at the latesmit its further assessment, including any justification provided in accordance with paragraph 3 to the Commission. In addition, the national regulatory authority shall provide a non- confidential version of its assessment to the Commission. The information required by this paragraph shall be provided by 31 July of the relevant calendar year at the latest, and the Commission shall publish the non- confidential version of the assessment provided by the national regulatory authorities without delay and in any event within one month of receipt.
Amendment 272 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6
Article 6
Amendment 285 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a Provision of information to users by traders All traders concluding sales contracts with users that include the sending of cross-border parcels shall make available to users at the pre-contractual stage the following information, online or by other accessible means: (a) prices charged by them to users for cross-border parcel delivery including any relevant alternative or discounted rates or breakdown of charges; (b) cross-border delivery options offered, including track and trace, and mechanisms allowing the user to intervene throughout the delivery process, including regarding returns and to arrange redelivery or collection times or locations where applicable; (c) details of their own and relevant parcel service provider complaints processes and of the European Consumer Centre network for cross-border complaints.
Amendment 287 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 b (new)
Article 6 b (new)
Article 6 b Harmonisation of quality of service and technical standards The harmonisation of quality of service and technical standards for cross-border parcel deliveries shall be prioritised further in accordance with the provisions of Directive 97/67/EC, through the European Committee for Standardisation and otherwise, taking into account in particular the interests of users, and efficiency and environmental considerations.
Amendment 288 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Before XX/XX/2019, and thereafter every fourthree years, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee an evaluation report on the application of this Regulation accompanied where appropriate by a legislative proposal for its review. The report shall be produced following consultation with all appropriate stakeholders, including the Social Dialogue Committee for the postal sector.
Amendment 291 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) whether the efficiency and affordability of cross- border parcel delivery services has improved, including for users located in remote or sparsely populated areas;
Amendment 292 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b
Amendment 294 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
(b a) the impact on cross-border parcel delivery levels and prices, including data on delivery fees charged to both traders and users;
Amendment 295 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b b (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point b b (new)
(b b) progress on quality of service and technical standard development on cross- border parcel deliveries.
Amendment 296 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point d
Amendment 297 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9
Article 9
Amendment 298 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 a (new)
Article 9 a (new)
Article 9 a Exercise of the delegation 1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article. 2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 3(4) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from ... *. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. 3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 3(4) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force. 4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council. 5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 3(4) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of four months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council. * OJ: please insert the date of entry into force of this Regulation.