Brussels, 10/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 October, the European Commission authorised aid planned by France to reform the way that pensions are paid for civil servants attached to the French postal service. However, this authorisation is conditional upon the respect of certain conditions, in order to ensure that La Poste and its rivals are competing on a level playing field as regards obligatory social and tax contributions. “At a time when further steps are being taken to liberalise the postal market, this reform helps to provide a level playing field for La Poste and its competitors”, said Neelie Kroes, the European competition commissioner.
In the light of major commitments obtained from the French authorities, the Commission concluded that the level of obligatory social and tax contributions paid by La Poste would, in future, be equivalent to the level borne by the postal operator's competitors.
Under a 1990 law, La Poste was to finance in full pensions paid by the state to its civil servants by way of the repayment to the state of the amounts paid out. This method of financing was a departure from the ordinary arrangement. Unlike an ordinary employer in the pay-as-you-go system, La Poste did not pay the levy that releases employers from any additional commitment from retirement pensions, but it had to ensure that the pension scheme for its civil servants was in balance. In 1998, the balancing payment borne by La Poste had reached the ceiling of La Poste's “employer's” contribution for 1997. The proportion of the pensions paid by the state and not covered either by La Poste's “employer's” contribution or by the pension contributions paid by the civil servants still had to be borne by the state. The 2006 reform, finalising La Poste's transition to the status of an ordinary competitor, provides for the operator to pay an “employer's” contribution at a competitive rate, releasing it from all other payment obligations. The contribution is calculated in such a way as to make the level of social security contributions and tax payable on salaries paid by La Poste the same as that borne by other companies in the transport and banking sectors under the ordinary social security arrangements.
After a thorough investigation, the Commission came to the conclusion that the 1998 ceiling and the 2006 reform constituted state aid. However, the measures “do not go beyond what is strictly necessary to establish a level playing field in respect of social security contributions and tax. What is more, the measures bring to an end a distortion of competition that was unfair to La Poste”. The Commission's investigation accordingly concluded that the 1998 ceiling and the 2006 reform are compatible with the common market.
In its analysis, the Commission stresses that the liberalisation of the postal sector has been an ongoing process since 1998, and that the 1998 ceiling and the 2006 reform of the pension schemes applicable to La Poste are important steps in adapting the enterprise to the gradual liberalisation with a view to full liberalisation of the French postal market. In its press release, the Commission stresses that the “liberalisation of the postal sector could be hampered if planned pensions reforms (…) were not approved”. (ol)