Brussels, 30/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 27 November, the Dutch finance ministry announced its intention to appeal against the decision of the European Commission to order the recovery of between €20 and €30 million from the coffee producer Starbucks for State aid it considers illegal, which was granted through a tax ruling (see EUROPE 11415).
“The Dutch practice (of the ruling) is lawful and compliant with the international system and the OECD. However, the European Commission's verdict in the Starbucks case deviates from national law and the OECD's system. In the end this will cause a lot of uncertainty about how to enforce regulations”, states a press release issued by the ministry. In order to obtain certainty and case law on the application of rulings, the ministry's statement goes on, the government has decided to appeal. It takes the view that the Commission has not convincingly demonstrated that the Tax Authority deviated from the statutory conditions. “It follows that there is no State aid involved,” the press release concludes.
Luxembourg, for its part, has not yet announced whether it will be appealing against the Commission's decision over Fiat Finance and Trade, which has also been ordered to pay back a similar amount for illegal State aid. When the Commission announced its decision, Luxembourg said that it intended to “reserve all its rights”. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)