The European Commission on Tuesday 19 July approved, under EU State aid rules, Belgium’s plans to compensate bpost for the provision of postal services of general economic interest between 2022 and 2026.
For Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President responsible for competition policy, the decision “confirms that the Belgian plans to compensate bpost for the provision of universal postal services are in line with EU State aid rules”. She added: “This enables bpost to continue delivering postal services across Belgium at affordable prices for consumers, without unduly distorting competition”.
In December 2021, Belgium had notified its plan to compensate bpost with €634 million for the provision of certain public postal services during the period 2022-2026.
The Commission assessed the Belgian measure under EU State aid rules, in particular Article 106(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, as well as under the rules on public service compensation, under the Service of General Economic Interest (SGEI) Framework.
The Commission examined whether the amount of compensation to be paid to bpost was likely to be higher than what is necessary to cover the net cost of performing the public service obligation.
It concluded that: - the compensation is based on a robust and conservative methodology, which guarantees that it will not exceed the cost of the public service mission entrusted to bpost; - the compensation mechanism contains incentives for bpost to increase the efficiency and quality of its public services; - Belgium organised a public consultation which confirmed the essential socio-economic role of the public services entrusted to bpost.
In July 2021, the Commission had authorised the extension until the end of 2021 of the compensation paid to bpost for the provision of postal services. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)