PostNL seeks €30 million to sustain mail delivery, plans legal action if denied
PostNL is allegedly preparing to take the Dutch government to court if it does not receive financial support to maintain daily mail delivery, warning that the Netherlands risks following Denmark’s example, where national mail service will stop entirely in 2026, AD reports.
Maurice Unck, director of mail services at PostNL, told AD that the company is seeking 30 million euros in subsidies this year and 38 million euros in 2026 to keep up its legally required delivery duties. “We don’t want to become the next Denmark,” Unck told AD. “And that’s exactly where we’re headed.” He confirmed that PostNL is already preparing for a court case and is willing to go as far as the Council of State if necessary. “If the ministry sticks to its position, we’ll go straight to court,” he said.
PostNL has long lobbied for relaxed delivery rules, asking to shift from mandatory 24-hour delivery to 48 or even 72 hours, citing a dramatic 70 percent drop in daily mail volume—from 20 million to 6 million items in the past two decades due to digitalization.
Although the Cabinet approved 48-hour delivery in late June, the change would only take effect in July 2026, with a 72-hour option possible in 2029. “That’s just too late,” Unck told AD. “This law has been sitting on the shelf since 2020, and the political system keeps pushing it aside.” He noted that countries like Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and the UK already allow 72-hour delivery, and Italy, Austria, and Finland allow four days.
Unlike mail carriers in other European countries, PostNL receives no government funding for fulfilling its "universal service obligation." “We carry out a public duty required by law that loses money,” Unck told AD. “Every day, 5,000 workers sort the mail and 15,000 carriers walk every street, and we don’t earn anything from it. You can’t ask a private company to do that.”
PostNL’s financial strain is expected to become clearer when it publishes its half-year results on August 4. Its stock is currently valued at under one euro, and Unck said the burden of the delivery obligation is unsustainable: “Government demands are too high, we don’t have enough staff, and we can’t invest. We’re stuck.”
Unck pointed to NS and Arriva as examples of state-subsidized public services, especially after COVID-era declines in ridership. “In public transport, operators get support for providing a public service. Why doesn’t that apply to the mail?” he told AD.
He also cited Denmark, where the government recently canceled PostNord’s delivery obligation, ending 400 years of traditional mail service starting in 2026. There, annual mail volume plummeted from 1.4 billion to 110 million items. “We’re not there yet in the Netherlands—Denmark is even more digital—but it shows how fast things can collapse if you don’t act,” Unck told the newspaper.
PostNL is now preparing for the shift to a 48-hour delivery model. Business mail has already moved to this system, and for consumers, the change means carriers will deliver three days a week. “A full-time carrier gets two neighborhoods. They walk one on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; the other on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday,” Unck explained.
Everyone would still receive mail three times per week. Faster delivery will remain available at a higher rate, and urgent items like medical and funeral mail will still be delivered within 24 hours. The new system will require fewer employees, but the exact staffing impact is not yet known. Until then, PostNL is waiting for a September debate in the Tweede Kamer on the proposed law. “We’re still proud to deliver consumer mail,” Unck told AD. “But under these conditions, it just can’t be done.”
