The conditions include that postal operators should deliver mail twice a week and companies should extend to cover the whole of the country within five years at a uniform tariff.

These conditions hinder the entry of rival postal companies and are in breach of the 28-country European Union rules, the EU executive said in a statement.

Belgium has two months to comply with the order or could then be taken to court.

(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald, writing by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)