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 Basic information Dates Date of document: Date of publication: Date of effect: February 10, 1998 Entry into force - Date pub. + 20 See Art 25 Date of transposition: Modified by Corrected by: Modified by: Derogated in: Modifies Affected by case Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 18 December 2007. Asociación Profesional de Empresas de Reparto y Manipulado de Correspondencia v Administración General del Estado. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Audiencia Nacional - Spain. Public procurement - Liberalisation of postal services - Directives 92/50/EEC and 97/67/EC - Articles 43 EC, 49 EC and 86 EC - National legislation allowing public authorities to conclude agreements for the provision of both reserved and non-reserved postal services with a publicly owned company, namely the provider of universal postal service in the Member State concerned, without regard to the rules governing the award of public service contracts. Case C-220/06. Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 22 October 2015. "EasyPay" AD and "Finance Engineering" AD v Ministerski savet na Republika Bulgaria and Natsionalen osiguritelen institut. Request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Money order service — Directive 97/67/EC — Scope — National legislation granting an exclusive right to provide a money order service — State aid — Economic activity — Services of general economic interest. Case C-185/14. Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 11 March 2004. Asociación Profesional de Empresas de Reparto y Manipulado de Correspondencia (Asempre) and Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Externalización y Gestión de Envíos y Pequeña Paquetería v Entidad Pública Empresarial Correos y Telégrafos and Administración General del Estado. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Tribunal Supremo - Spain. Postal Services - Directive 97/67/EC - Services reserved for the providers of the universal postal service - Definition of self-provision - Inclusion of money order services. Case C-240/02. Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 11 February 2015. bpost SA v Institut belge des services postaux et des télécommunications (IBPT). Request for a preliminary ruling from the Cour d'appel de Bruxelles. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Postal services — Directive 97/67/EC — Article 12 — Universal service provider — Quantity discounts — Application to intermediaries who consolidate postal items — Requirement of non‑discrimination. Case C-340/13. Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 13 October 2011. DHL International NV, formerly Express Line NV v Belgisch Instituut voor Postdiensten en Telecommunicatie. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Hof van beroep te Brussel - Belgium. Postal services - External procedures for dealing with users’ complaints - Directive 97/67/EC - Article 19 - Scope - Additional to means of redress available under national law and under European Union law - Freedom of action of Member States - Restrictions - Article 49 TFEU - Freedom of establishment. Case C-148/10. Case C-220/06: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 18 December 2007 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo — Spain) — Asociación Profesional de Empresas de Reparto y Manipulado de Correspondencia v Administración General del Estado (Public procurement — Liberalisation of postal services — Directives 92/50/EEC and 97/67/EC — Articles 43 EC, 49 EC and 86 EC — National legislation allowing public authorities to conclude agreements for the provision of both reserved and non-reserved postal services with a publicly owned company, namely the provider of universal postal service in the Member State concerned, without regard to the rules governing the award of public service contracts) Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 31 May 2018. Confederazione Generale Italiana dei Trasporti e della Logistica (Confetra) and Others v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni and Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico. References for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Postal services in the European Union — Directive 97/67/EC — Articles 2, 7 and 9 — Directive 2008/6/EC — Definition of ‘postal service provider’ — Haulage, freight-forwarding and express mail undertakings providing services involving the clearance, sorting, transport and distribution of postal items — Authorisation required for the provision of postal services to the public — Contribution to the costs of providing universal service. Joined Cases C-259/16 and C-260/16. A02PT19 A01PT6 A01PT1BIS A09P2 A01PT1 A09P1 A07P4 Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 6 March 2008. Deutsche Post AG (C-287/06, C-288/06 and C-291/06), Magdeburger Dienstleistungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH (MDG) (C-289/06), Marketing Service Magdeburg GmbH (C-290/06) and Vedat Deniz (C-292/06) v Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Verwaltungsgericht Köln - Germany. Postal services - Directive 97/67/EC - Field reserved to universal postal service provider - Special tariffs for the deposit by business customers, at fixed points of the postal network, of minimum quantities of pre-sorted items - Refusal of such tariffs to intermediaries who consolidate, on a commercial basis and in their own name, postal items from various senders. Joined cases C-287/06 to C-292/06. Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 16 November 2016. DHL Express (Austria) GmbH v Post-Control-Kommission and Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie. Request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgerichtshof. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Directive 97/67/EC — Article 9 — Postal services in the European Union — Obligation to make a financial contribution to the operational costs of the postal sector’s regulatory authority — Scope. Case C-2/15. Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 7 September 2023. Nexive Commerce Srl and Others v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni and Others. Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato. Reference for a preliminary ruling – Postal services in the European Union – Directive 97/67/EC – Fourth indent of the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) and Article 9(3) – Article 22 – Undertakings in the postal sector – Contribution to the operational costs of the regulatory authority for the postal sector – Obligation – Financial burden borne exclusively by market participants, without distinction according to the type of services provided – Principles of proportionality and non-discrimination. Case C-226/22. Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 23 April 2009. The Queen, on the application of TNT Post UK Ltd v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Reference for a preliminary ruling: High Court of Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s Bench Division (Administrative Court) - United Kingdom. Sixth VAT Directive - Exemptions - Article 13A(1)(a) - Services supplied by the public postal services. Case C-357/07. Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 15 June 2017. Proceedings brought by Ilves Jakelu Oy. Request for a preliminary ruling from the Korkein hallinto-oikeus. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Directive 97/67/EC — Article 9 — Freedom to provide services — Postal services — Notions of universal service and essential requirements — General and individual authorisations — Authorisation to provide postal services under individually negotiated contracts — Conditions imposed. Case C-368/15. Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 15 November 2007. International Mail Spain SL v Administración del Estado and Correos. Reference for a preliminary ruling: Tribunal Supremo - Spain. Directive 97/67/EC- Common rules for the development of the internal market in postal services - Liberalisation of postal services - Possibility to reserve cross-border post to the universal postal service provider’ to the extent necessary to ensure the maintenance of universal service’. Case C-162/06. Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 16 October 2019. Michael Winterhoff v Finanzamt Ulm and Jochen Eisenbeisvv Bundeszentralamt für Steuern. Requests for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Taxation — Common system of value added tax (VAT) — Directive 2006/112/EC — Article 132(1)(a) — Exemptions for certain activities in the public interest — Public postal services — Directive 97/67/EC — Universal postal service provider — Private operator providing the service of formally serving court or administrative authority documents. Joined Cases C-4/18 and C-5/18. Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 27 March 2019. Mariusz Pawlak v Prezes Kasy Rolniczego Ubezpieczenia Społecznego. Reference for a preliminary ruling – Internal market for postal services – Directives 97/67/EC and 2008/6/EC – Article 7(1) – Definition of ‘exclusive or special rights for the establishment and provision of postal services’ – Article 8 – Right of the Member States to organise the registered mail service used in the course of judicial procedures – Time limit for lodging a procedural document before a court – Interpretation of national law in conformity with EU law – Limits – Direct effect relied on by an emanation of a Member State in proceedings between that emanation and an individual. Case C-545/17. Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 2 May 2019. Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos SA v Asendia Spain SLU. Request for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil de Madrid. Reference for a preliminary ruling — Directive 97/67/EC — Common rules for the development of the internal market in postal services — Provision of the universal postal service — Exclusive rights of the designated operator — Issue of means of payment for postage other than postage stamps. Case C-259/18. Joined Cases C-287/06 to C-292/06: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 6 March 2008 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Köln, Germany) — Deutsche Post AG (C-287/06, C-288/06 and C-291/06), Magdeburger Dienstleistungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH (MDG) (C-289/06), Marketing Service Magdeburg GmbH (C-290/06), Vedat Deniz (C-292/06) v Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Postal services — Directive 97/67/EC — Field reserved to universal postal service provider — Special tariffs for the deposit by business customers, at fixed points of the postal network, of minimum quantities of pre-sorted items — Refusal of such tariffs to intermediaries who consolidate, on a commercial basis and in their own name, postal items from various senders) {AR|http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/fd_370/AR} 12 {TIRE|http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/fd_370/TIRE} 5 Case C-545/17: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Sąd Najwyższy (Poland) lodged on 18 September 2017 — Mariusz Pawlak v Prezes Kasy Rolniczego Ubezpieczenia Społecznego article 8 article 7 paragraph 1 sentence 1 Case C-368/15: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Korkein hallinto-oikeus (Finland) lodged on 14 July 2015 — Ilves Jakelu Oy article 9 paragraph 1 article 2 point 19 article 9 paragraph 2 article 2 point 14 Case C-275/16: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio (Italy) lodged on 17 May 2016 — Comune di Balzola and Others v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni Case C-4/18: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof (Germany) lodged on 3 January 2018 — Michael Winterhoff, acting as liquidator in the insolvency of DIREKTexpress Holding AG v Finanzamt Ulm Case C-5/18: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof (Germany) lodged on 3 January 2018 — Jochen Eisenbeis, acting as liquidator in the insolvency of JUREX GmbH v Bundeszentralamt für Steuern article 3 paragraph 4 article 2 point 13 Case C-256/17: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Rotterdam (Netherlands) lodged on 15 May 2017 — Sandd B.V. v Autoriteit Consument en Markt (ACM) article 12 indent 2 article 14 paragraph 2 Case C-374/18: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Köln (Germany) lodged on 7 June 2018 — UPS Deutschland Inc. & Co. OHG, DPD Dynamic Parcel Distribution GmbH & Co. KG, Bundesverband Paket & Expresslogistik e.V. v Deutsche Post AG Case C-259/16: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio (Italy) lodged on 10 May 2016 — Confederazione Generale Italiana dei Trasporti e della Logistica (Confetra) and Others v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico article 7 point 4 article 9 point 2 article 2 paragraph 1a article 9 paragraph 1 article 2 paragraph 1 article 6 article 2 point 19 Case C-260/16: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio (Italy) lodged on 11 May 2016 — Aicai Associazione Italiana Corrieri Aerei Internazionali (AICAI) and Others v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico article 7 paragraph 4 article 9 paragraph 2 article 9 paragraph 1 article 2 paragraph 1 article 2 point 19 article 2 paragraph 1a article 6 Case C-345/24, AGCOM: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Italy) lodged on 10 May 2024 – Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM) v BRT SpA and Others Case C-259/18: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil de Madrid (Spain) lodged on 11 April 2018 — Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos, S.A. v Asendia Spain, S.L.U. article 8 article 7 paragraph 1 Case C-785/23, Bulgarian Posts: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad (Bulgaria) lodged on 19 December 2023 — Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ Sofia pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalna agentsia za prihodite ‘Bulgarian Posts’ EAD v ‘Bulgarian Posts’ EAD article 12 indent 2 article 12 indent 4 Case C-226/22: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Italy) lodged on 31 March 2022 — Nexive Commerce Srl and Others v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni and Others article 9 paragraph 3 article 9 paragraph 2 unnumbered paragraph 2 indent 4 article 22 Legal basis TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY PART THREE: COMMUNITY POLICIES TITLE III: FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS, SERVICES AND CAPITAL CHAPTER 3: SERVICES ARTICLE 66 TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY TITLE V : COMMON RULES ON COMPETITION TAXATION AND APPROXIMATION OF LAWS CHAPITRE 3 : APPROXIMATIONS OF LAWS ARTICLE 100A TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY PART THREE: COMMUNITY POLICIES TITLE III: FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS, SERVICES AND CAPITAL CHAPTER 2: RIGHT OF ESTABLISHMENT ARTICLE 57 TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY PART FIVE: INSTITUTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY TITLE I: PROVISIONS GOVERNING THE INSTITUTIONS CHAPTER 2: PROVISIONS COMMON TO SEVERAL INSTITUTIONS ARTICLE 189B EuroVoc Vocabulary Freedom of establishment Single market Postal service Quality standard Provision of services Approximation of laws Harmonisation of standards Internal market - Principles Other service activities