The Hague, 5 September 2025 – PostNL has formally requested the Minister of Economic Affairs to withdraw the designation for providing the Universal Postal Service (USO). The request follows the continued lack of a solution to cover the high costs of this public service, which PostNL is obliged to provide despite the fact that, from 2025 onwards, it will lead to structural losses across the entire postal business. Short-term relief measures have not materialised, the subsidy request was rejected by the minister, and there is no legislative perspective offering sufficient improvement. Today, the Administrative High Court for Trade and Industry (CBb) also rejected PostNL’s request for an advance payment on the subsidy. This creates an unsustainable situation for PostNL and puts the continuity of postal service provision in the Netherlands at risk. This is irresponsible for people who rely on post and for the thousands of people working in the postal sector. It is also unreasonable to expect a commercial company to absorb such losses when carrying out a mandatory public service. PostNL sees no other option than to request the withdrawal of the designation and urges the ministry to respond within two months. (....)