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The General Court of the European Union dismisses the action bought against the Commission’s decision to initiate the formal investigation procedure on certain tax rulings issued by the Dutch tax administration in favour of Nike European Operations Netherlands and Converse Netherlands.

By judgment of 14 July 2021, in case T-648/19, Nike European Operations Netherlands et Converse Netherlands/Commission, the General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought against the Commission’s decision to open in 2019 the formal investigation procedure on certain tax rulings issued by the Dutch tax administration in favour of Nike European Operations Netherlands and Converse Netherlands, two Dutch subsidiaries of the Dutch holding company Nike Europe Holding, controlled by Nike Inc., a company based in the United States.The tax rulings in question validate for tax purposes the amount of royalties payable by the two subsidiaries to other group companies for the exploitation of intellectual property rights. These royalties are tax deductible from the taxable revenue in the Netherlands. According to the Commission’s provisional assessment, the tax rulings confer a selective advantage in that the corporation income tax is calculated on a lower tax basis than would be the case if the amount of the royalties owed by the two subsidiaries corresponded to the amount that would have been negotiated under market conditions for a comparable transaction between independent companies. According to the General Court, the Commission’s decision to initiate the formal investigation procedure does not contain manifest errors of assessment and respects the obligation to state reasons.