On 1 July 2019, the European Commission (EC) made publicly available the non-confidential version of its opening decision of 10 January 2019 in the formal State aid investigation into the Netherlands’ tax treatment of Nike. The EC explains the reasons for the initiation of its formal investigation and requests additional information from the Netherlands or any other Nike group company, to reach a final conclusion. This decision represents therefore the opening, not yet the outcome, of the EC’s formal investigation into this matter.
This is another EC opening decision in the area of transfer pricing. If the EC’s approach
is confirmed in its final decision, further litigation before the European Courts is likely.
