CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, is an association that brings together the national #standardization bodies of 34 European countries, providing a #platform for the #development of European Standards and other technical documents for a variety of products, materials, services, and processes. European Standards are recognized across #Europe and are automatically adopted as national standards in 34 European countries. This makes it much easier for businesses to sell their goods or services throughout the European Single Market.

The European Commission has requested CEN, through Standardization Requests, to develop standards in support of Directive 97/67/EC as amended by Directives 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC („Postal Services Directive), Regulation 2018/644 (Cross-border Parcel Delivery Regulation) and the European Green Deal (COM/2019/640 final) on several occasions over the course of the last two decades. The standardization of #postalservices and #improvement of #quality of service is a strategic priority for the Union and should be pursued further. Technical standardization is indispensable for the promotion of interoperability between national networks and for the existence of an efficient universal service. The work program considers the interests of users, environmental considerations, the accelerated pace of #digitalization, as well as #efficiency, and should contribute to promoting the creation of a Digital Single Market for the Union.

The scope of CEN/TC 331 includes the postal market which ranges from non-express letters to parcels, and including #digital postal services associated with postal products or services. The work of CEN/TC 331 is mainly focused on the interfaces between #stakeholders in the postal value chain and
various aspects of #quality of service measurement. The work is structured into 4 Working Groups, focusing on (𝟭) 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, (𝟮) 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, (𝟯) 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮, and (𝟰) 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 of end receivers.

The benefits of standardization in postal services are:
• 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: creates a greater level of interoperability between operators along the postal value chain, and better coordination between e-retailers and parcel delivery companies;
• 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: provides tried and tested Europe-wide solutions to make the network more accessible to all players wishing to avoid inefficient investment in IT;
• 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: enhances convenience, quality of services, transparency for consumers and cost-effective delivery solutions;
• 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 of new services (and improving existing services) by providing proven and standardized solutions that can be used as a foundation for developing products and services.

#update #CEN #strategy #EuropeanSingleMarket #DigitalSingleMarket