Tag: Deutsche Post

Deutsche Post rejects EU allegation It misused government subsidies

Posted by | Sep 12, 2007 | |

German postal services and logistics company Deutsche Post AG said Wednesday it rejects the allegation made by the European Commission that it misused German government subsides.

The European Commission Wednesday said it has opened an investigation to probe all public funds granted to Deutsche Post since 1989.

Deutsche Post spokesman Dirk Klasen said it was “incomprehensible” that Germany and Deutsche Post – which are leading European postal service liberalization – were being investigated by the commission.

E.U. law states that every country’s national post company is bound to serve all regions in that country, including those which are unprofitable because they are hard to reach or are sparsely populated.

The commission said earlier Wednesday that Deutsche Post’s competitors allege the former monopoly used this money to expand commercial activities and to sell services too cheaply to its subsidiaries DHL and Postbank AG, which is banned under E.U. law.

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EU court rejects courier complaint on French Aid

Posted by | Sep 12, 2007 | |

A European Union court Wednesday rejected complaints from international courier companies who claimed that French state-owned postal services company La Poste unfairly subsidizes its own courier express operation.

The ruling is part of a larger struggle that sees E.U. antitrust authorities and private companies trying to pry open Europe’s monopoly-controlled postal markets while still respecting E.U. rules that allow for government funding of national postal companies serving unprofitable areas. La Poste is one such company.

The case goes back to 1990, when the Union Francaise de L’Express or Ufex, Deutsche Post AG’s, DHL International, FedEx Corp’s Federal Express International France SNC and Service CRIE all complained to E.U. competition authorities that La Poste unit Societe Francaise de Messagerie Internationale – now Chronopost – was receiving unfair competitive advantages over the rest through its state-funded parent company. These alleged advantages include receiving logistical and commercial assistance on “unusually favorable terms.”

The European Commission rejected this complaint, saying that since the matter concerned competition on the French market, it wasn’t an E.U. matter. The courier companies tried to have this decision overturned, but were spurned again in 2004 when their arguments were once again rejected.

The courier companies then went to Europe’s second-highest court, the Court of First Instance, to try and have the commission’s decision annulled. The court Wednesday ruled simply that the commission’s initial decision was correct.

The courier companies may now appeal the ruling to Europe’s highest court, the Court of High Justice.

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EU to examine all German subsidies to Deutsche Post in new state aid probe

Posted by | Sep 12, 2007 | |

EU regulators will investigate the German state subsidies of Deutsche Post, once the state-owned postal service, to determine if it bolstered commercial operations with public money, the European Union said Wednesday.

The EU’s executive arm said rivals had complained that Deutsche Post AG used government money to undercut the private sector by selling services “too cheaply” to banking arm Postbank and parcel service DHL – one of the world’s three biggest delivery companies.

Deutsche Post immediately denied any illegal subsidies, calling the investigation “surprising and completely incomprehensible.” Deutsche Post said regulators have reviewed company accounts numerous times.

In Berlin, Finance Ministry spokesman Torsten Albig said the investigation had been expected and expressed confidence the Commission would clear the company in end.

The new investigation comes on top of the EU’s 2002 order for Deutsche Post to repay the German government 572 million euros (USD 791 million) in public money that the company had used to finance a rebate pricing policy for its door-to-door parcel business.
Governments usually pay postal operators to run the costly mail delivery service for the country, but they are forbidden from using the money for other services.

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Agreement reached on minimum wages for postal workers in Germany

Posted by | Sep 5, 2007 | |

The German employers association of postal services said it and Ver.di trade union have agreed on a minimum wage for the industry, with postmen getting 9.80 eur an hour in western Germany, and 9.00 eur in the east.

All other workers in the sector, such as those in back-offices, will be paid 8.40 eur an hour in western Germany, and 8.00 eur per hour in the east.

The wage agreement will be effective from Oct 1, and can be cancelled on April 30, 2010, at the earliest.

Under the deal, minimum wage rates in eastern Germany will be be replaced by those applicable in western regions from Jan 1, 2010.

Deutsche Post’s main competitors TNT NV’s TNT Post and PIN Group AG are not member in the employers association of postal services and have recently set up their own group.

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