THE UK’S Royal Mail may be forced by the European Commission to sell off some of its most profitable businesses in exchange for a government bailout of its pension scheme, it was reported yesterday.

The commission is understood to be considering whether the British government’s plan to take on the group’s pension liabilities constitutes state aid, and if this gives the business an unfair advantage over its competitors, according to the Sunday Times.

If it does decide the move constitutes state aid, Brussels may demand the sale of some of the Royal Mail’s most profitable divisions, including its European parcels operation General Logistics Systems.

The business, which is based in the Netherlands, handles more than one million parcels a day and made a £51 million (€59.6 million)profit in the past six months.

Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland were both ordered to make disposals by the commission after they received a bailout from taxpayers.

However having to sell off some of Royal Mail’s valuable businesses could hamper government plans to sell the group.