Brussels, 02/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 2 May, the European Commission formally proposed to the Netherlands that it abolish the exemption from corporate tax granted to Dutch public undertakings. It considers that public companies that carry out economic activities in competition with private companies should likewise be subject to corporate tax. “Exempting certain companies merely because they are publicly owned gives them a competitive advantage which cannot be justified under EU state aid rules”, the Commission states. Recognising that there are some exceptions to the principle of tax exemption for public companies, the Commission nevertheless underlines that many economic activities carried out by public bodies - including all services - and many public companies remain exempt. Among these undertakings are the port of Rotterdam, the Holland Casino company, Maastricht airport, several development agencies, the Industriebank LIOF bank and the Twinning Holding company. (OL/transl.fl)