On 8 October 2019, Margrethe Vestager passed the test and has been approved by the European Parliament (Parliament) to become the new European Commission’s (Commission) Executive Vice President for digital and commissioner for competition. The European Parliament is due to vote on the proposed College of Commissioners as a whole on 23 October 2019. If…

In its first judgment regarding the European Commission’s recent fiscal State aid decisions, the EU General Court (GC) last week annulled the Commission’s decision of 11 January 2016 on Belgium’s so-called “excess profit rulings”. The exemption for “excess” profits The case concerns a specific provision in Belgian tax law, which provides for the possibility to…

Since 2013, the European Commission has taken an increasing interest in Member States’ practices of granting tax benefits to mainly multinational undertakings by means of individual tax rulings or specifically tailored tax agreements. In this respect, the Commission in October 2015 found that the Netherlands has given unlawful aid to Starbucks and Luxemburg to Fiat…