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The Fiat Case and a Judicial Epilogue in the Tax Rulings Saga · Joined Cases C-885/19 P, C-898/19 P Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe v Commission · Annotation by Theodoros G. Iliopoulos

Annotation on the Judgment of the Court of Justice of 8 November 2022 in Joined Cases C-885/19 P and C-898/19 P Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe v Commission

Theodoros G. Iliopoulos

DOI https://doi.org/10.21552/estal/2023/2/9

Keywords: tax rulings, advance transfer pricing agreement, arm's length principle, selectivity


On 8 November 2022, the Court of Justice (appellate body) published its judgment in Joined Cases C‑885/19 P and C‑898/19 P that dealt with the tax ruling that Luxembourg had granted to the group Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe. The judgment annulled the Commission’s 2015 decision that found that the granting of this tax ruling constitutes illegal State aid and required Luxembourg to recover the incompatible and unlawful aid. With this judgment, the concept of ‘selectivity’ in State aid, at least with regards to tax measures, is delineated, and it is revealed to be narrower than it seemed. The arm’s length principle does not form part of State aid law, unless national law gives a concrete expression to it, and the Commission can only rely upon the principle of non-discrimination to assess the national rules that establish and determine the application of the arm’s length principle. This is the judicial epilogue of the Fiat case and of the saga of the tax rulings – unless the exact delineation of the powers of the Commission opens a new chapter in the future.

Theodoros G. Iliopoulos is an adjunct professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and a postdoctoral researcher in energy law at Hasselt University and Ghent University, working as a Postdoctoral Fellow (Fundamental Research) of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO, fellowship 12C7523N). For correspondence: <mailto:theodoros.iliopoulos@uhasselt.be>.

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