Restrictive Admissibility Criteria prevent Scrutiny of PostNord State Aid Decision
Today, the General Court (GC) rendered its judgment in the Case Danske Fragtmænd v Commission (T-334/22) concerning Commission Decision SA.49668 approving the state aid granted by Denmark and Sweden to PostNord AB and Post Danmark A/S.
In 2017, Denmark and Sweden agreed to provide financial support to PostNord and Post Danmark through capital injections and an internal contribution to address digitalisation challenges and implement a new production model. The Commission considered in its decision that the capital injections from Denmark and Sweden to PostNord were unlawful state aid, while the internal contribution from PostNord to Post Danmark was not considered state aid.
Danske Fragtmænd, a company active on the Danish market for road transport of goods and parcel distribution services, challenged the mentioned decision. However, today its action has been declared inadmissible.
The GC stated that the applicant failed to prove that the capital injections significantly impacted its competitive position, despite other potential factors. Moreover, it ruled that the applicant did not demonstrate that Post Danmark’s benefit from the support scheme was likely to substantially affect its competitive position in the Danish and Nordic postal markets. Therefore, it was not individually concerned by the decision and lacked standing to bring proceedings against it.
For more information, see the Judgment of the GC.