Shipping rates for small producers

Part I. Findings

The Council records three conditions affecting cross-border shipping for small EU producers. Each is supported by sources cited at the foot of this Position.

Finding 1. Cross-border parcel pricing is recognised by EU law as a single-market barrier.

Regulation (EU) 2018/644 was adopted explicitly to address the concern that the relatively high level of tariffs applicable to cross-border parcel delivery services, the lack of transparency, and the limited regulatory oversight of such services constituted an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market^[1]. The European Commission operates a public price comparison tool for cross-border parcel delivery within the EU, the existence of which is itself institutional recognition that price variance is a known barrier^[2]. The Commission’s dedicated parcel delivery policy page identifies cross-border parcel costs as a priority area for ongoing intervention^[3].

Finding 2. Small shippers face a structural cost asymmetry they cannot negotiate away.

The European Commission’s assessment of cross-border single-piece parcel tariffs records that the published prices charged in many Member States are higher than can be explained by known cost differences alone, and that small shippers appear to have few alternatives to the national postal operators and often pay the full published price^[4]. Independent analysis by Bruegel documents that small retail shippers consistently identify high cross-border parcel delivery prices as a serious barrier to conducting business in other EU Member States^[5]. A separate Bruegel review records that transparency tools, while useful, do not by themselves correct the underlying pricing asymmetry between large contracted shippers and small operators paying retail rates^[6].

Finding 3. The cost barrier suppresses cross-border e-commerce for small producers, with measurable scale.

The European Commission records that, of EU consumers who buy online, 44 per cent buy in their own country but only 15 per cent buy from another EU Member State, with high cross-border delivery costs among the most-cited obstacles^[7]. Peer-reviewed analysis confirms the persistence of this gap between domestic and cross-border e-commerce, and identifies parcel pricing structures as a material contributor^[8]. The Commission’s own technical study of cross-border parcel delivery cost drivers documents that operators without in-house customs and routing capacity incur costs that scale unfavourably for small consignment volumes^[9].

Part II. Position

On the basis of these Findings the Council holds that:

1. Cross-border parcel delivery cost asymmetry is a structural feature of the EU postal market, not a market signal. The EU has itself recognised this since 2018, and the trajectory of policy intervention since then has not closed the gap for small operators.
2. Transparency tools, while necessary, are not sufficient. Publishing the price differential does not allow a small producer to negotiate it. Effective intervention requires instruments that materially alter the cost faced by small shippers, not only the visibility of it.
3. The Council holds that small EU producers shipping a sauce from one Member State to another should not face per-parcel costs that exceed the unit margin of the product. Where they do, the Single Market is not yet functioning for that producer.

Part III. Commitments

The Council will:

1. Maintain a watchlist of intra-EU parcel rates on the corridors most used by members, and publish summaries at regular intervals.
2. Submit comment in EU consultations touching cross-border parcel delivery, postal services regulation, and SME e-commerce policy where the impact on small food producers is material.
3. Where member volumes permit, explore aggregated shipping arrangements that bring small EU producers within reach of rates currently available only to large contracted shippers.

Revision

This Position will be reviewed annually, or sooner if Regulation (EU) 2018/644 is materially revised or if the Commission publishes a new assessment of cross-border parcel tariffs.

Sources

1. [1]Regulation (EU) 2018/644 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 April 2018 on cross-border parcel delivery services. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/644/oj/eng
2. [2]European Commission, Price comparison tool for parcel delivery in the EU (operated by the Commission as part of its monitoring of cross-border tariffs). https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/postal-services/parcel-delivery-eu/find-best-price-your-eu-parcel-delivery_en
3. [3]European Commission, Parcel delivery in the EU (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs). https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/postal-services/parcel-delivery-eu_en
4. [4]European Commission, Assessment of cross-border single-piece parcel tariffs. https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/postal-services/parcel-delivery-eu/assessment-cross-border-single-piece-parcel-tariffs_en
5. [5]Bruegel, E-commerce in Europe: parcel delivery prices in a digital single market (policy brief). https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/e-commerce-europe-parcel-delivery-prices-digital-single-market
6. [6]Bruegel, European e-commerce needs better visibility into cross-border delivery prices. https://www.bruegel.org/blog-post/european-e-commerce-needs-better-visibility-cross-border-delivery-prices
7. [7]European Commission, Cheaper cross-border parcel delivery to boost e-commerce in the EU (Shaping Europe's Digital Future). https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/cheaper-cross-border-parcel-delivery-boost-e-commerce-eu
8. [8]E-Commerce in Europe: Parcel Delivery Prices in a Digital Single Market (Springer Nature, peer-reviewed analysis). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-46046-8_10
9. [9]European Commission, Cross-Border Parcel Delivery Operations and its Cost Drivers (Commission study). https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/15943/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/native

Issued under Council authority. European Heat Council, 2026-06-25.