Deutsche Post World Net yesterday won a victory at an EU court over €297.5 million worth of statefunds paid to Belgian Post six years ago.
In 2003, the European Commission authorised the payments by the Belgian government to thenational postal operator following several meetings with Belgian authorities. The money, to be paidas a capital injection, was less than the “compensation gap” in previous authorised state paymentsto Belgian Post and was therefore not state aid, it decided.
But Deutsche Post and its subsidiary DHL, which compete with Belgian Post in the express andparcels markets, had unsuccessfully requested an official approval process for the governmentpayments so that they could be consulted over the issue. Following Commission approval, DPWNtherefore took legal action against the decision.
The European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, the second-highest EU court, yesterdayannulled the European Commission’s decision on the grounds that the commission had not properlyinvestigated how the capital increase would impact on the parcel market. In 2003, La Poste had an18% market share in the Belgian express parcels sector while Deutsche Post/DHL held a 35% to 45%share, the court noted.
“The assessment of whether this measure was compatible with the common market presentedserious difficulties requiring the initiation of the detailed investigation procedure which wouldhave permitted Deutsche Post and DHL International to submit their observations,” the court stated.
In its judgment, the Court of First Instance said that the Commission exceeded the normaltwo-month examination period for state aid by taking seven months over the decision and noted thatit requested additional information three times. Yet it still did not have sufficient informationand also failed to examine Belgian Post’s service costs before making its decision.
The European Commission now has two months to decide whether to appeal against the courtdecision. If it does not, then it would have to re-examine formally the 2003 Belgian governmentpayment. Should it then rule against the aid, Belgian Post would have to repay the sum to theBelgian government.
