Luxemburg, 07/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 5 December, Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston delivered her conclusions on the logistical and commercial assistance to the Société française de messagerie internationale (SFMI-Chronopost) by La Poste, the former historic French postal services provider. According to the Advocate general, the Commission decision, which found that this assistance did not constitute illegal state aid, was, indeed, correct.
SFMI-Chronopost's competitors in the express delivery sector complained to the Commission in 1990 that the conditions (i.e. the price) of the logistical and commercial assistance provided by La Poste to SFMI-Chronopost did not correspond to normal market conditions. The UFEX trade union (formerly SFEI), representing these competitors estimated the illegal aid as being worth 1.516 billion French francs for the period from 1986 to 1991. The Commission rejected the complaint, but, in 2006, the Court of First Instance, to which UFEX had appealed, found against the Commission. If the Court were to accept the Advocate General's conclusions (as it does in most cases, though not in all), it will annul the Court of First Instance judgment in favour of the Commission's original decision. Sharpston based her conclusions largely on the fact that the definition of “normal market conditions” used by the Commission is a valid one. The Court of First Instance noted several gaps in this definition, but the “missing” elements were not, according to the Advocate General, essential to a valid legal definition. (C.D.)