Brussels, 26/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 26 January, the European Commission decided to close its investigation on the unlimited guarantee enjoyed by La Poste due to its special status under public law. The decision follows the adoption by the French parliament of the law on La Poste as a public enterprise, and on postal activities. The Commission concluded that the transformation of La Poste into a limited liability company, as foreseen by the law in question, would have the effect of putting a de facto end to the guarantee.
The Commission considers that La Poste enjoys an implicit guarantee from the French state because of its status. This guarantee is unlimited, unremunerated and not restricted to universal postal service activities, but also covers the commercial activities of La Poste, thus conferring upon it an economic advantage over its competitors, which must operate without such a guarantee. The guarantee therefore distorts competition on postal markets which “makes it incompatible with the single market”, the Commission states in a press release. On 4 October 2006, the Commission had recommended that Paris do away with the guarantee by 31 December 2008 at the latest. Considering, however, that discussion with the French authorities went on until October 2009, and that time was needed to approve legal acts for removing the guarantee, the Commission today considers that it is reasonable to call upon the French authorities to put an end to the guarantee by 31 March 2010 at the latest.
With this decision, the Commission does not question the public service mission of La Poste or its state ownership. The Commission in fact takes a neutral stance when it comes to the ownership regimes chosen in member states. It only considers that the guarantee arising from the French post office's special status, and not from its ownership regime, constitutes state aid incompatible with the internal market and which must therefore be removed. European competition rules must apply in the same way to private and public enterprise, the Commission points out. Furthermore, the Commission concluded that the transformation of La Poste into a limited liability company would necessarily do away with the unlimited guarantee that the post office enjoys. Transformation of La Poste into a limited company on 1 March 2010, as foreseen in the law on La Poste as a public enterprise adopted on 12 January 2010, therefore constitutes a measure of a kind that eliminates the disputed state aid. (O.L./transl.jl)