Brussels, 28/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 25 April, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said he would be issuing infringement proceedings against Luxembourg in order to take the case before the European Court of Justice because the country is refusing to supply information about some of its tax practices.
On 24 March 2014, the Commission issued two injunctions requiring Luxembourg to provide information within a month on its “fiscal ruling” and intellectual property schemes (see EUROPE 11045). Luxembourg's government reacted immediately that it would be examining the legality of the two injunctions (see EUROPE 11046). On 24 April, the Luxembourg authorities said that their investigation had confirmed the country's serious doubts about the legality of the requests, which Luxembourg says beg questions about the European Commission's powers and the way it exercises them. Luxembourg says it will be taking the matter to the European Court of Justice, demanding that the injunctions be annulled. Commissioner Almunia said: “Following the information injunctions by the Commission ordering Luxembourg to submit information on tax practices, Luxembourg failed to deliver the requested information to the Commission within the deadline. We need this information to assess whether certain tax practices are compatible with EU state aid rules. In those circumstances I intend to propose the launch of an infringement procedure against Luxembourg, with a view to referring this matter to the Court of Justice”. (EL)