The Council of Ministers, on the proposal of Minister Karremans of Economic Affairs, has agreed to send this amendment to the Postal Decree - a General Administrative Order (AMvB) - to the House of Representatives. This amendment, announced earlier in October, has been publicly consulted in recent weeks.
Minister Karremans: “We are sending fewer and fewer letters and cards. Dutch people also value reliable and affordable mail delivery. The current rules do not match this, and doing nothing leads to further decline. I also cannot ask a company to perform this task at a loss in the long term. In short, adjustments are urgently needed, and I am slightly extending the rules for delivery time.”
What changes in 2026 and 2027?
From July 1, 2026: letters must be delivered within two days. If you post a letter on Monday, it will arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday.
From July 1, 2027: this will be within three days. So a letter posted on Monday can be delivered on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.
Mail is still delivered five days a week: Tuesday through Saturday. For condolence mail and medical mail, nothing changes: it is still delivered within 24 hours and six days a week.
Why this change?
Because we send less mail, costs are rising and reliability is at risk. Research by the regulator (ACM) shows that extending delivery time from one day to two days (2026) is not enough to solve this. With a three-day term (2027), postal services can remain affordable and reliable. This way, senders and users already know what to expect in the coming years.
Other countries have already gone ahead of the Netherlands in this. For example, in Germany, the new standard delivery time for mail is three or four days since this year. In Denmark, it has even been completely abandoned. In Belgium, the cheapest (standard) delivery is also 72 hours. Delivery within 24 hours is still possible there, but only at twice the price.
Requests by PostNL for government subsidy and withdrawal of designation rejected
By extending the delivery time, it is not necessary to provide government subsidies to PostNL as the executor of postal services. PostNL has objected to this and also requested the withdrawal of the designation that they must deliver mail. The cabinet has rejected both, due to the measures taken today in the amended Postal Decree.