Deutsche Post has been formally ordered to repay €298 million of state aid to the Germangovernment which is less than expected but is already appealing against the decision in the
long-running case.The German government’s move implemented a European Commission decision in January this year inan investigation dating back to 2007. The EU body found that Deutsche Post had benefited fromincompatible aid “in the range of €500 million to €1 billion, resulting from the combination ofhigh regulated prices and pension relief subsidies”, which had “placed Deutsche Post in a betterposition than its competitors”.
However, the German government calculated the state aid to have been only €298 million, and thusmuch lower than the Commission’s range.
Despite this, both the German government and Deutsche Post reject the Commission’s finding andhave filed an appeal with the European Court of Justice. Deutsche Post said the ruling was “incomprehensible and has no basis in fact” as the Commission addressed matters they had alreadyexamined during similar state aid proceedings from 2002 and which had ended in a defeat for theCommission in September 2010 as a result of a company appeal in the ultimate legal instance.
Addressing the financial implications of the payment decision, Deutsche Post said it wouldrecord the payment only in its 2012 balance-sheet as it considers the state aid cannot withstandlegal review. “As a consequence, company earnings both in the past fiscal year and in the years tocome remain unaffected by the decision. The liquidity of the group will continue to remain solid,”it stated.
The European Commission’s ruling in January came as part of a wider decision that clearedgovernment payments of €1.9 billion and €52 million respectively to France’s La Poste and Greece’sHellenic Post but also ordered Belgium’s bpost to repay €417 million of state aid.
