Deutsche Post to appeal EU fine
The semi-privatised German postal authority Deutsche Post said on Wednesday it plans to appeal against the fine slapped on it by the European Commission in Brussels.
But Deutsche Post said in a statement it would be forced to take a 850-million-euro (806-million-dollar) charge against the fine on its 2002 accounts.
The statement said it had “taken note of the EU Commission’s decision on Wednesday to order the semi-public company to repay 572 million euros in state aid”, because Brussels believed it Deutsche Post had used that money to undercut private-sector rivals in the package delivery market between 1994 and 1998.
The amount is one of the biggest ever ordered repaid by the commission, which has found Deutsche Post in breach of competition rules twice in the past.
“We will immediately file an appeal against the decision with the European Court of Justice,” Deutsche Post said, insisting there was “a whole series of procedural errors and legal inconsistencies” in Brussels’ decision.
Nevertheless, it was compelled to set aside 850 million euros in provisions against the fine on its 2002 balance sheet, the company added.
The size of the charge — equivalent to almost one third of the group’s net profit — took into account not only the repayment of the subsidies themselves, but the interest as well.
Deutsche Post chairman Klaus Zumwinkel said the company was confident of winning its appeal.
“The Commission’s decision is so clearly disputable that on a judgment in favour of Deutsche Post is conceivable,” he said.
Zumwinkel insisted Deutsche Post had never used “unauthorised cross-subsidies nor unlawful state aid” for its business parcel division.
And he accused Brussels of double standards, because it contradicted the Commisson’s approval of state aid to Italy and Ireland at the beginning of this year.
“Deutsche Post, which has successfully restructured and is therefore profitable, is being punished by a totally incomprehensible repayment decision,” Zumwinkel said. “We demand the same legal and political treatment as other European postal companies.”
