This year's EUROPA theme is "The Postman's Van" which runs in conjunction with the Association's 20th Anniversary and in honour of the mail delivery network.

Each year, PostEurop the association representing European Public Postal Operators is proud to organize the best of Europa Stamp Design Competition.  On 9 May 2013, PostEurop launched the public online voting competition based on one vote per registered voter.   

A postal van at full capacity can carry on average up to 25,000 of ordinary mail.

The common theme for this year's competition is “The Postman's Van”.  "Why the van?" you may ask? That is simply because the postal van is undoubtedly the most mobile, dynamic and visible daily symbol of each postal operator's presence in their own country.  Those vehicles painted with distinctive colours are seen each day on almost every road and even highways across Europe, carrying personal effects and messages to millions of customers each day. The modern day vans are quick, efficient and more ecological compared to historical vehicles.  Depending on the country, its culture, terrain and climate, each postal operator has their own story to tell.  So, philatelic designers had set out to work on their interpretive designs capturing the past and/or present and the results are here. 

"There is so much to consider with this year's common theme with a lot of elements coming into play.  Without a doubt, I am very happy to see this year's beautiful entries, each unique and yet together brings together a strong network" concluded Markku Penttinen, Chairman of the PostEurop Stamps and Philately working group from Itella.

View and Vote for Your Favourite Europa Stamp Today

We invite you to view all the beautiful entries and vote for your favourite stamp on www.posteurop.org/europa2013. The online competition will end on 31 August 2013 and the winning stamps will be announced at the PostEurop 20th Anniversary Dinner to be held on 18 September 2013 in Brussels.

More about EUROPA Stamps

Since 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and co-operation. These special stamps are issued by the European postal administrations/enterprises and bears the EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark.  Since 1993, PostEurop has been the responsible organisation for issuing EUROPA stamps and each year, philately experts within the Philately working group organize the competition amongst other philately initiatives.  See more information on www.posteurop.org/europa