Dutch government rejects PostNL bid to be released from nationwide delivery obligation

By Olivier Cherfan

(Reuters) -The Dutch government has no intention of releasing postal service provider PostNL from an EU-mandated obligation to make nationwide deliveries, it said on Friday, a relief the company sought after losing another bid for state aid.

The company had asked to be released from the universal service obligation after a tribunal rejected its second bid for financial support from the state. It said it was left no alternative after the Dutch government rejected its request for help to keep its services running.

"We have now reached the limits of what PostNL can do within an outdated legal framework that no longer reflects societal needs," CEO Pim Berendsen said in a statement.

Shares in PostNL reversed course after the statement, trading up 3.3% by 1006 GMT after falling as much as 2% in early trading.

However, a spokesperson for the economic affairs ministry said the Dutch government has no intention to relieve PostNL of the obligation, but will look for ways to modernise the regulations.

The EU-wide Universal Service Obligation requires letters and parcels to be delivered five days a week across each member state but PostNL says the financial burden of the mandate has led to losses.

"It is unreasonable to expect a commercial company to absorb such losses when carrying out a mandatory public service," PostNL said in its statement.

The interim relief judge at the Netherlands' Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal said it was not convinced that the company's situation was so dire that it required the Minister of Economic Affairs to provide financial support this year and next as requested.

The minister’s idea to relax delivery to two days a week is seen as too late, politically uncertain, and still uneconomic without funding.

The company had previously asked the state for a financial contribution to cover costs of 30 million euros ($35 million) in 2025 and 38 million in 2026, a request rejected by the Dutch government in early August and subsequently appealed.

($1 = 0.8542 euros)

(Reporting by Olivier Cherfan in Gdansk; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Jan Harvey and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)