EU orders Deutsche Post to repay subsidies - supply chain review

While the German government says it will comply with the order, the logistics firm, which owns DHL, says it will take the matter to the European Court of Justice.

The group’s chief executive Frank Appel says the ruling is “incomprehensible and has no basis in fact”.

Appel claims the decision contradicts an earlier EU decision and the outcomes of similar proceedings.

“If you examine the state aid rulings on other European postal service providers, it becomes quite clear that here the commission has applied double standards,” he says.

The company says the formal investigation against the Federal Republic of Germany in 2007 concerning alleged unlawful state aid to Deutsche Post AG addressed the same matters examined as early as 2002.

These were defeated in the courts following an appeal by Deutsche Post.