On 15 July 2020, in the Apple case, the EU judges (General Court) concluded for the second time in less than one year that the EU Commission failed to demonstrate that by issuing a tax ruling dealing with transfer pricing matters, local tax authorities had granted illegal state aid to a multinational company. As a result, the decision of the European Commission of 30 August 2016 according to which Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to 13 billion euros to Apple was annulled.
Back in September 2019, the General Court already concluded in the Starbucks case that the European Commission was unable to demonstrate the existence of an advantage granted by the Dutch tax authorities in favour of Starbucks. Here as well, the decision of the Commission was annulled.
An appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union is still possible.