After repeated legal setbacks, the European Commission announced that it has dropped its investigations into tax breaks granted by Luxembourg and the Netherlands to Amazon, Fiat, and Starbucks.

On Thursday, the European Commission dropped three investigations into controversial tax rebates granted by Luxembourg to Amazon and Fiat, and by the Netherlands to Starbucks, following a series of legal setbacks.

In recent years, the General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have overturned Commission decisions requiring these three groups to repay tens of millions of euros in undue tax benefits, which the Commission argued amounted to illegal state aid.

"Following judgements handed down by the courts of the European Union, the Commission has concluded that these tax rulings did not confer any advantages on the companies concerned," the Commission explained in a press release announcing the closure of the three investigations into Amazon, Fiat, and Starbucks.

In December 2023, the CJEU ruled in favour of online retail giant Amazon in its dispute with Brussels, which demanded that it repay €250 million to Luxembourg. In November 2022, the car manufacturer Fiat (Stellantis group) won a similar case before the CJEU and obtained the annulment of a decision requiring it to repay €30 million to Luxembourg.

In 2019, US coffee chain Starbucks also won a case before the General Court against the Commission, which asked it to repay €30 million to the Netherlands. Luxembourg and the Netherlands are regularly denounced by NGOs for their aggressive tax practices aimed at attracting investment from multinationals.