Germany: EU re-opens Deutsche Post state aid feud

The EU’s General Court was told to re-open postal service company Deutsche Post’s appeal of an investigation that ordered the company to pay back about $411 million it was given in state aid, say reports.

The EU Court of Justice reportedly found mistakes in the General Court’s decision to reject Deutsche Post’s appeal of the probe; further, the Court of Justice said the appeal’s rejection “has to be annulled.”

The ruling was made Thursday.

The Germany-based company began a campaign in 2007 to end the European Commission’s decision to probe all state aid given to the firm, as well as its predecessor Postdienst, since 1989. But the company lost its bid against the probe in 2011.

Since the Commission’s ruling that some funds given to the company violated state aid law, Deutsche Post has returned millions. Germany was ordered to recover even more money, however, after the Commission found that funds used by the company to cover losses in its delivery service were also an illegal use of state aid.

Full content: Bloomberg

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