Deutsche Post did not receive illegal state aid

Deutsche Post DHL has been told by the European Union’s highest court that it will not have to repay state aid and interest totalling EUR 1.15bn. On September 2, the European Court of Justice made the ruling that the company did not misuse state aid in parcel competition

The European Commission claimed Deutsche Post’s express operator DHL misused EUR 572m of state aid in order to delivery parcels cheaper than their rivals during the period 1994-1998. UPS had protested that the German company had undercut private businesses by offering anti-competitive rebates to customers.

However, the Court ruled that the company did not benefit unfairly from government subsidiaries.

“The General Court concluded correctly that the methodology applied by the Commission in the contested decision was defective,” the European Court of Justice said in a statement.

In 2008, EU’s Court of First Instance overturned a 2002 guilty verdict that Deutsche Post used state subsidiaries illegally.