#62023CC0752Opinion of Advocate General Kokott – CJEU Advisory Opinion
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
This law relates to an advisory opinion delivered by Advocate General Kokott concerning an appeal made by Dow Silicones and Vinventions against a judgment of the General Court regarding state aid. The case centers around the Belgian tax ruling system for excess profits, which the European Commission considered to be incompatible with EU internal market rules. The key question is whether the European Commission and EU Courts are bound by the Member State's interpretation of its tax laws, especially when that interpretation does not align with the legal wording.
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Key Changes
- Clarification on the interpretation of Belgian tax law regarding state aid
- Determination of the reference framework for State aid assessment
- Assessment of recovery obligations from corporate groups receiving aid
Obligations
What this law requires
Member States must not implement tax ruling systems that grant profit reductions or exemptions inconsistent with the wording of their own tax law provisions, even if based on established administrative practice
The European Commission must assess whether tax practices constitute state aid by reference to the legal wording of national tax provisions, not solely by the Member State's interpretation of those provisions
Member States must recover state aid granted through unlawful tax ruling practices from the identified direct beneficiaries of those rulings
Member States must recover any remaining unrecoverable aid amounts from the corporate group to which the aid recipient belongs, when direct recovery from beneficiaries is not possible
Tax authorities must not reduce taxable profit based on hypothetical average profit of standalone companies rather than actual profit realized, unless expressly permitted by the wording of the tax law