July 9, 2026 | Investigation Opinion | Authorisation, Registration And Licensing

On 9 July 2026, the Advocate General (AG) delivered his Opinion concerning whether the Postal Services Directive (Directive 97/67/EC) precludes Italy from subjecting Amazon's delivery activities to the authorisation regime applicable to postal service providers (joined cases C-535/25, C-536/25, C-537/25). The case concerns the 3 companies of the Amazon group, namely Amazon Italia Logistica, Amazon Italia Services, and Amazon Italia Transport, and their delivery network for products sold by third-party sellers on the Amazon marketplace. For Amazon Italia Logistica, the AG found that the company handles items that already carry a postal character, and that its operations appear capable of amounting to sorting within the meaning of the Directive. Amazon Italia Services' management of parcel lockers, the AG found, falls within the distribution of postal items stage, the final stage of the postal chain, given the active nature of this management and the automatic return of items to the sender when uncollected. As for Amazon Italia Transport, the AG considered that it may be regarded as a postal service provider despite not substantively carrying out delivery itself, since it exercises decisive influence over the conditions under which a subcontracted local operator provides the service, including that operator's staff management. The underlying dispute traces back to a 2018 decision by AGCOM, the communications regulator, which found that the 3 companies were carrying out postal services without the required authorisation. The Opinion is not binding on the CJEU, whose judgment is still pending.