EU to rule against Deutsche Post
European Union regulators are set to find Deutsche Post World Net, the global mail, express and logistics group, guilty of unlawfully disrupting international mail bound for Germany.
The European Commission is expected to issue a ruling, possibly as early as next week, ordering the German company to stop its action. It may also cap its three year investigation by imposing a fine.
The commission said in a preliminary statement last year that Deutsche Post’s “frequent and systematic interception, surcharging and delay of normal incoming cross-border mail infringes the competition rules of the European Union.”
The commission opened its investigation following a complaint from Britain’s Royal Mail, now called Consignia, which was supported by evidence from other European postal companies.
The commission in March fined Deutsche Post €24 million ($20.9 million) after a seven-year probe upheld a complaint by United Parcel Service that it had illegally subsidized its domestic parcels business with profits from its monopoly on mail deliveries in Germany. The company also agreed to set up a separate subsidiary to handle packages.
The commission’s antitrust inquiry coincided with efforts by Deutsche Post to reduce its dependence on its mail operations which provide 75% of profits and boost the contribution of its $5 billion express and logistics acquisitions over the past three years. This week it confirmed plans to eliminate 3,000 of its 80,000 mail carriers position and said it was seeking to take over Australian freight forwarder Cargoplan.
Journal of Commerce JOC
