Postal Users' Group

The PUG membership includes representatives from the major bulk mailing business sectors, such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing (FEDMA), the European E-commerce and Mail Order Traders Association (EMOTA), the European Publishers Council (EPC), the Federation of European Periodical Publishers (FAEP), the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA), the European Directory Publishers Association (EAPD), the Federation des Editeurs EUROPEENS (FEP-FEE), European Express Association (EEA) and the Dutch Postal Users' Group (VGP).

The Postal Users’ Group aims at promoting ten key high level goals:

• Fair and effective competition delivering new, improved and innovative choices to users;
• Well funded, strong, effective and independent regulators;
• Better value and more competitive and transparent prices;
• Fewer technical and/or legal barriers to user access and choice;
• Viable and transparent, non-discriminatory and proportional Universal Service provision and coverage;
• Cost-orientated prices that improve the viability of the Universal Service provision, such as down-stream access;
• Member States governments positively supporting and promoting these reforms as essential to delivering a viable and exciting future for postal users, service providers and workers;
• Effective and early transposition of the Third Postal Directive;
• Identify and explore synergies with other means of communication that stimulate innovation and new business opportunities for letter post.
• Dynamic and mutual beneficial (new) competitive business partnerships between users and postal service providers

The European Mail Manifesto: growth, partnership and innovation in a changing industry

The Postal Users´ Group has issued a manifesto on the main interests of business users of postal services to encourage the European Commission to take the postal users´ needs into account during its preparations of its proposals on postal services this year.

PUG, an alliance of the major postal users representing 15 trade associations and businesses, points out in its manifesto that the postal services cover a very wide range of businesses and systems. The letter mail business of Europe´s postal operators represent about 1 million jobs and revenues of 47 billion euro; however, PUG shows that the wider sector accounts for an additional 4 million jobs and over 156 billion euro of revenues. Therefore, the wider postal sector accounts for 5 million jobs and a total contribution of 203 billion euro to the European economy.

The European Commission´s proposals will impact on a few wider range of businesses and services than just letter mail. Business mailers, which PUG represents, generate about 90% of postal volumes-including parcels, packages, express mail and courier, as well as letter mail. Getting the future vision right is essential for this vast sector. The manifesto identifies the principles which should guide the postal sector and help it re-invent itself in the fast moving environment of changing customer needs, new technologies, the shareholders´ pressures, etc.

In the foreword to the manifesto, the European Parliament´s “Rapporteur” on Postal Services and senior member of the Transport Committee, Mr Markus Ferber MEP, said “This study…demonstrates the extent to which the market is changing. Given the nature of these changes and their effects on industry and consumers alike, it is important to examine and evaluate in detail what these developments can entail for businesses and society”.

The Mail Manifesto can be downloaded here (3.4 mb).

FEDMA holds the secretariat for the PUG. For further