According to the European Commission, an efficient delivery and return system is key to facilitating further growth in e-commerce and therefore consumer choice and convenience. It has therefore launched a public consultation to gather opinions to boost the transnational delivery system on the e-commerce in the EU.

The European Commission launched a public consultation that has as main aim to gather opinions on how to achieve an integrated parcel delivery market to boost e-commerce in the EU. According to the Commission, 57% of e-retailers consider cross-border delivery to be an obstacle to trading, while 47% of consumers worry about delivery in cross-border transactions. However, in March 2011, the Commission published a scoreboard that showed that consumer conditions were recovering but cross-border e-commerce remained backward.

Within the public consultation, three priority areas have been identified to address the problems and challenges faced by consumers and e-retailers in the EU, which are improving convenience of delivery services for consumers and SMEs across the EU; ensuring more cost-effective delivery solutions and better prices for consumers and SMEs; promoting improved interoperability of delivery services between operators (better partnerships and cooperation), and between operators and e-retailers, notably SMEs.

The Green Paper consultation is part of the Commission's on-going work on e-commerce development. E-commerce is widely acknowledged as a key contributor to economic growth and increasing employment levels across the European Union. The Commission underlines that delivery is critical as it has a substantial impact on facilitating e-commerce and is a key element for building trust between sellers and buyers.