"The Commission was wrong to declare” that
In many cases, multinationals can pay taxes on the bulk of their revenue across the EU's 27 countries in the one EU country where they have their regional headquarters. For
The ruling can only be appealed on points of law and the Commission Vice President
The Irish government welcomed the ruling, saying "there was no special treatment provided” to the
The ruling is an especially stinging defeat for Vestager, who has campaigned for years to root out special tax deals and better regulate the power of the big
Despite the setback, she vowed to carry on the fight. “The Commission will continue to look at aggressive tax planning measures under EU state aid rules to assess whether they result in illegal state aid," she said.
Besides the tax case, Vestager has recently opened two antitrust investigations into
The European Network on Debt and Development, a group that seeks to make the financial system fairer, said that Wednesday's court ruling showed how tough any tax policy remains. “”If we had a proper corporate tax system, we wouldn’t need long court cases to find out whether it is legal for multinational corporations to pay less than 1% in taxes,” said
Even though taxation remains under the authority of its member countries, the EU is seeking to create a level playing field among the 27 nations by making sure special deals - including ultra-low tax rates with multinationals - are weeded out.
Wednesday's ruling will hurt that.
EU Greens legislator
The ruling comes at a time when tax income for EU nations is taking a hit because of the recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. With households under financial pressure, the EU wants to make sure multinationals making profits on the continent pay their fair share, too.
“In times like these, when we are passing multibillion-euro economic stimulus packages, we cannot afford to waste a single cent in tax revenue," said EU legislator
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