Summary of the Report from the European Commission on the application of the Postal Services Directive (PSD)

The Malta Communications Authority's (MCA's) primary objective with regard to the regulation of the postal sector in Malta is to safeguard the provision of an efficient, affordable and high quality universal postal service together with the promotion of sustainable competition in the provision of postal services.

The MCA's regulatory remit to regulate the postal sector comes directly from legislation, in particular from the Postal Services Act (Cap. 254), which transposed the European Postal Services Directive (PSD) into national law.

The PSD was last revised in 2008. Since then, the postal sector has undergone major changes due to digitalisation and e-commerce. On 8 November 2021, the European Commission adopted its report on the application of the PSD (hereinafter referred to as 'the Application Report').  The Application Report assesses whether the PSD still fits the purpose for which it was adopted in 1997 and whether new policy objectives might need to be considered in the future.

In this document, the MCA is providing a summary of the salient points emerging from the Commission's Application Report. This document also outlines the MCA's next steps and its contribution into the process of the review of the European Postal Services Directive.