The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation on Friday 23 July to determine whether the compensation granted by Denmark to Post Danmark for carrying out its public service mission for the year 2020 is in line with EU State aid rules.
Post Danmark is the main postal operator in Denmark and is jointly owned by Denmark (40%) and Sweden (60%) through PostNord Group AB and PostNord AB.
In March 2021, Denmark notified the Commission of its intention to compensate Post Danmark up to a maximum of approximately 30 million euros for the fulfilment of its universal postal service obligation during 2020.
In December 2019, the Commission received a complaint from a Danish association with members active in the road transport and logistics sectors, claiming that the compensation to be granted to Post Danmark constituted State aid incompatible with the internal market.
At this stage, the Commission has doubts about Post Danmark’s allocation of costs between the universal postal services and the non-universal postal services it provides and, consequently, about the calculation of the net cost of the universal service obligation by Denmark on the basis of this cost allocation. The Commission therefore decided to open an in-depth investigation, in particular because of concerns regarding the verification of the absence of overcompensation.
The Commission will now investigate further to see if its initial concerns are well founded. Opening of an in-depth investigation gives Denmark, the complainant and other interested third parties the opportunity to comment. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation in any way. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)