EU Court Annuls Illegal Aid ruling on Spanish Ship Finance Scheme
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Europe’s second-highest court docket gave clearance on Thursday to a Spanish tax lease scheme within the shipbuilding trade, annulling a call by EU regulators two years in the past that this gave a selective benefit to firms and so was unlawful state assist.
The ruling by the Luxembourg-based General Court underlines the hurdles going through the European Commission in its crackdown on company tax avoidance and nationwide programmes that profit solely sure teams.
The Spanish scheme concerned financing ship building by way of a construction with two intermediaries, and permitting delivery firms to get a rebate of 20 to 30 p.c on the worth of vessels constructed by Spanish shipyards.
“The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision that the Spanish tax lease system is an illegal state aid. The measures concerned are not a selective advantage,” judges stated.
“The General Court also considered that the Commission did not give sufficient reasons for its finding that the measures at issue were likely to distort competition and affect trade between member states.”
The EU government will rigorously look at the judgment and its potential implications, Commission spokeswoman Lucia Caudet informed a information convention.
The Spanish scheme got here below scrutiny in 2006 after some firms complained to the Commission that they’d misplaced out in shipbuilding contracts.
The EU state assist enforcer dominated towards the scheme in July 2013 and ordered Spain to assert again the help from the beneficiaries.
The Spanish authorities and two firms subsequently challenged the Commission’s resolution. There are a complete of 65 circumstances pending earlier than the court docket towards the EU discovering.
The Commission faces extra authorized battles after ordering the Dutch authorities in October to recuperate as much as 30 million euros in again taxes from U.S. espresso chain Starbucks, and telling Luxembourg to do the identical for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles .
Luxembourg and the Netherlands have challenged the choices. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; enhancing by Philip Blenkinsop and Mark Trevelyan)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.
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