IP/07/1312
Brussels, 12th September 2007
State aid: Commission opens formal investigation against Germany concerning possible subsidies to Deutsche Post
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation against Germany to assess whether compensation received by Deutsche Post AG (DPAG) is compatible with EC Treaty state aid rules (Article 87). The investigation will focus on whether DPAG was overcompensated for carrying out its universal service obligation, in addition to the aid already found to be incompatible in a 2002 Commission decision (see IP/02/890). The opening of an investigation procedure gives interested parties the opportunity to comment on the measures under assessment. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
In 2002, the Commission investigated the public financing of DPAG and found that DPAG used public funds – which were intended to compensate for universal service costs – to finance a rebate pricing policy in its door-to-door parcel business. The Commission ordered Germany to recover incompatible state aid of € 572 million from DPAG.
Following the 2002 decision, private competitors have filed complaints alleging that DPAG had gained significantly higher financial benefits from the public compensation received than what it had had to repay as incompatible state aid. In addition they brought new allegations that DPAG had used the public service compensation to expand its commercial activities and to sell services too cheaply to its subsidiaries DHL and Postbank.
According to EU state aid rules, public compensation for the provision of universal services can only be compatible with the EC Treaty if it is both necessary and proportional to the objective. No universal service provider may earn excessive profits or use the compensation to cross-subsidise commercial activities. These rules are to ensure that consumers benefit from favourable prices for universal services, that the burden on the public budget is kept as low as possible while safeguarding universal service provision, and that companies competing in areas outside the universal service are not driven out of the market and remain able to compete to deliver the best services to businesses and consumers.
The Commission will therefore investigate all public measures, such as transfers of public money and tariff income, which were granted since 1989 in favour of DPAG, and its predecessor POSTDIENST, and determine whether DPAG was overcompensated beyond the incompatible aid previously recovered. This Commission investigation will therefore complement and extend its 2002 decision to determine whether there is any overcompensation for DPAG's universal service obligation above and beyond that identified in the 2002 decision.
The Commission has recently opened similar investigations against France (IP/06/1305), UK (IP/07/226), Italy (IP/06/1605; IP/06/1256), and Poland (IP/07/562) concerning the financing of their postal operators.
