In 2015 Polish Post the provision of universal postal services was entrusted in 2015-2025, but Post it did not receive any compensation for this in 2015-2020. In December 2022, Poland informed the European Commission about its plans to provide the company with compensation of approximately PLN 865 million euro for the years 2021-2025. On Friday, November 15, the Commission announced that it had approved the plan Polish government – we read in the official statement.
Compensation for Poczta Polska. The European Commission gave the green light
“The compensation is based on a solid and conservative methodology that guarantees that it will not exceed the net cost of the public service entrusted to Poczta Polska,” the European Commission said. As we read, the scope of the universal service obligation is consistent with the definition contained in the Postal Services Directive. In particular, it covers the delivery at post offices and mailboxes at least five days a week of postal items up to two kilograms, postal parcels up to 20 kilograms, registered letters and items for blind and visually impaired people.
“The universal service obligation is fundamental to ensuring the delivery of letters and parcels throughout the EU. Today's decision confirms that Poland plans to compensate Poczta Polska for providing universal postal services throughout the country for the benefit of citizens and in accordance with EU state aid rules,” said the Vice-President European Commission for Competitiveness Margrethe Vestager, quoted in the announcement.
Under EU public service compensation rules, companies can receive compensation for the additional costs of providing a public service under certain conditions. This allows EU countries to grant state aid to provide public services while ensuring that companies are not overcompensated, thus minimizing distortions of competition.
Poczta Polska with a historic loss for 2023
In mid-June, the Ministry of State Assets signed an agreement with Poczta Polska regarding the payment of compensation for the so-called universal service in 2021-2022. The amount of payment towards the financing of the so-called net cost amounted to approximately PLN 749 million in total (almost PLN 192 million for 2021 and over PLN 557 million for 2022). “However, the amount of compensation does not constitute a permanent remedy for the company's financial problems. The compensation only covers the costs already incurred and does not translate into a permanent improvement of the company's situation” – Poczta Polska reported in a statement.
The difficult financial situation of Poczta Polska was then pointed out. Last year ended with a historic loss of nearly PLN 750 million. “The condition for Poczta Polska's continued operation on the market is a comprehensive transformation. Its key element is digital transformation. The aim of the currently developed transformation plan will be not only to permanently stabilize the economic situation, but also to optimize the operation of structures and adapt the mechanisms in the company to market realities,” it was emphasized. Payments of various types of compensation for the provision of unprofitable universal services are widely used in other EU countries (including Austria, Belgium or in France), however, require prior consent of the European Commission.