BRUSSELS--The European Union's competition watchdog said
Wednesday that it will take Germany to the EU's Court of Justice as
it has failed to recover funds it funnelled into Deutsche Post
deemed illegal under EU law since January 2012.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, asked Germany
to recover an unspecified amount of money it had indirectly given
to support the country's postal service. The financial aid had
reached the company in the form of subsidies to pension costs, the
commission said.
"As a result, Deutsche Post effectively benefited from social
contribution rates that were below the rates which other non-price
regulated postal services providers had to pay, and was thereby
granted an undue advantage over its competitors," it added.
But Germany has "repeatedly refused" to recover the aid. It will
now be up to the court to rule on this case and force Germany to
claim back the indirect subsidies from Deutsche Post.
Write to Matina Stevis at matina.stevis@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires