Investigation into aid for Poland‘s postal provider

A formal investigation is to be launched into state aid for Poland’s postal service provider. The European Commission announced on June 29 that it plans to investigate compensation offered by the Polish government to Poczta Polska for providing the universal postal service. More specifically, the investigation will look at the aid granted to Poczta Polska both as compensation for losses incurred and for the investments made by the company as part of its day-to-day business of providing postal services in Poland. The Commission is concerned that Poczta Polska has failed to correctly evaluate the cost of running postal services, and that this evaluation could, therefore, mean that it has received more aid than it is actually entitled to. This additional money could then be used by Poczta Polska to finance other activities and unfairly disadvantage the company’s competitors. The Commission’s formal investigation will allow Poland and third parties to submit comments which the competition authorities will use to establish whether this is in fact the case.