The European Commission has announced that it is promoting an online platform called Deliver in Europe that will enable e-tailers free access to information about delivery companies that deliver to their target countries.

Deliver in Europe is a programme designed to drive more transparency into cross border deliveries, with a view to boost the pan European e-commerce sector.

Irmfried Schwimann, the EC Deputy Director General at DG GROW, presented the Deliver in Europe platform at the Deliver One conference that took place in Luxembourg this week.

The EC is encouraging logistics companies to sign up to the platform in order to populate the database. The next phase that will take place in the next few weeks will be where a search engine is made generally available to e-commerce merchants.

The EC is moving toward regulation on cross border parcel delivery, and for countries remaining in the EU (as well as those tied to it through other treaties) will have to observe these new regulations that will be put in place to ensure that cross border e-commerce isn’t hampered by barriers to trade such as extra charges for international delivery. Many postal and delivery companies are already trying to dodge the regulation by making it as easy and as cheap as possible to send parcels abroad within the political and economic bloc. Things are changing quickly on this front as regulators are waking up to the possibility of e-commerce growth across the EU.