Other cases that caught our eye 1 October 2021

State aid and Belgium excess profits scheme

In P Commission v Belgium and Magnetrol International (Case C- 337/19) the CJEU upheld an appeal by the EC against the EU General Court annulment of the Commission’s 2019 decision concerning selective tax advantages granted by Belgium under its excess profit tax scheme. The General Court’s judgment should be set aside to the extent that the General Court made several errors in the interpretation and application of article 1(d) of Regulation 215/1589. However the CJEU concluded that the case should be referred back to the General Court for it to rule on two outstanding grounds of appeal that were raised at first instance which related to whether the Belgium scheme constituted state aid and the legality of the Commission’s order to recover aid granted under the scheme. In a client briefing KMPG noted: ‘The CJEU‘s decision represents a key turning...