On February 2, 2016 the Dutch Ministry of Finance published a letter that the Dutch State Secretary for Finance sent to the Dutch Parliament. The letter contains answers to questions raised by Members of the Permanent Committee for Finance (vaste commissie voor Financiën) regarding the Starbucks case. According to the State Secretary, the Committee raised these questions as a reaction to his letter from November 27, 2015. In this letter the State Secretary gave the cabinet’s reaction to the European Commission’s decision in the Starbucks case (The European Commission decided that theNetherlands had given illegal state aid to Starbucks).

With 16 pages the letter of February 2, 2016 is very extensive. And unfortunately it is only available in the Dutch language.

In the introduction the State Secretary states that the fact that the Government has filed an appeal with the Court of the European Union (CEU) limits the possibilities for the State Secretary to elaborate in great detail on the positions the Netherlands and the European Commission have taken in this procedure. The dispute between the Netherlands and the European Commission is now under review by the court, which is also the only competent authority to settle the dispute. According to the State Secretary an extensive discussion out side of court of the positions taken by the Netherlands and the Commission may impair the procedural position of the Netherlands.

The State Secretary has organized the questions and his answers thereto based on the subjects they relate to. In this respect the State Secretary used the following 6 main categories:

1)     The aim of the Dutch cabinet;

2)     The appeal procedure in the Starbucks case;

3)     Further investigation by the European Commission;

4)     Combating tax avoidance;

5)     Organization of the ruling practice; and

6)     Other

Click here to be forwarded to the answers sent by the Dutch Secretary for Finance to the Dutch Parliament as available on the website of the Dutch Ministry of Finance, which will open in a new window.

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