Luxemburg, 13/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 13 June, the Court of Justice of the Communities heard the oral argument in which Deutsche Post laid out its arguments refuting the decision taken by the Commission in 2002 to declare state aid of €572 million received by the German post office (Deutsche Post) illegal (case T-266/02).
On 19 June 2002, after a detailed examination of the dossier, the Commission concluded that Deutsche Post had used the funds in question which were allocated by the state to fund its public service mission between 1994 and1998, for the purposes of an aggressive price policy designed to supplant its private sector rivals in parcel post activities, not to carry out services of general interest (EUROPE 8236). The German post office replied by accusing the Commission of double standards by failing to apply similar standards to all member states; and by drawing a comparison with similar decisions targeting Italy and Ireland at the start of 2002. Deutsche Post also stresses that the calculation method used to determine the sum total of the aid was incorrect. Lastly, it takes as its basis a decision of the Commission of the previous year concerning the same sector, which, it claims, did not lead to the same conclusion (EUROPE 7927).
A representative of the Postal Service's communications department, Dirk Klasen, expressed the resentment of the company, which has been “treated completely differently” to the postal services in the other countries - a sentiment also voiced by the president of the company, Klaus Zumwinkel, in 2002. “The Commission's decision is so contestable”, he told the press at the time, “that a judgment in favour of Deutsche Post is the only conceivable outcome”. The Court will now weigh up the arguments of both parties before coming to its decision, in a few months' time. (cd)