Article 1
The aid scheme implemented by the Netherlands pursuant to Article 15b of the 1969 Corporate Tax Act and put into effect by the Law of 13 December 1996 is incompatible with the common market.
2003/515/EC: Commission Decision of 17 February 2003 on the State aid implemented by the Netherlands for international financing activities (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2003) 568)
2003/515/EC: Commission Decision of 17 February 2003 on the State aid implemented by the Netherlands for international financing activities (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2003) 568)
Data as of 2026-07-04 Β· Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. Β· Read the official text β
Article 2
The Netherlands shall terminate the scheme referred to in Article 1. The companies covered by this scheme as at 11 July 2001 may continue to benefit from it until the end of the 10-year period granted to them by the Dutch tax authorities. In any event, implementation of the scheme shall be terminated by 31 December 2010 at the latest.
Article 3
The Netherlands shall inform the Commission, within two months of the date of notification of this Decision, of the measures taken to comply with it.
Article 4
This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Done at Brussels, 17 February 2003. For the Commission Mario Monti Member of the Commission (1) OJ C 306, 31.10.2001, p. 6. (2) OJ C 2, 6.1.1998, p. 1. (3) OJ C 384, 10.12.1998, p. 3. (4) See footnote 1. (5) Verbond van Nederlandse Ondernemingen - Nederlands Christelijk Werkgeversverbond. (6) N 674/01. (7) See footnote 2. (8) OJ L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 1. (9) See footnote 3. (10) Case 223/85 RSV v Commission [1987] ECR 4617. (11) Case C-379/98 Preussen Elektra v Schleswag [2001] ECR I-2099, paragraph 59. (12) See Commission Decision 96/369/EC of 13 March 1996 (OJ L 146, 20.6.1996, p. 42). (13) See point 14 of the notice. (14) Report of the Heads of Delegation to the Foreign Ministers, Brussels 1956, pp. 60 and 61. (15) 14th Report on Competition Policy (1984), p. 271. (16) Written Question No 1735/90 (OJ C 63,11.3.1991, p. 37). See also the questions submitted previously by Belgian MEPs Radoux No 2381/82 (OJ C 170, 26.6.1983, p. 9) and Van Rompuy No 1817/83 (OJ C 148, 6.6.1984, p. 14). (17) This principle is recognised in Court of Justice case-law: judgment of 14 May 1975, Case 74/74 CNTA v Commission [1975] ECR 533; judgment of 25 January 1979, Case 98/78, Racke v Mainz [1979] ECR 69. (18) See footnote 10. (19) Letter D/51112 dated 5 March 1997. (20) Letter D/50716 dated 12 February 1999. (21) No 9596. (22) Reference D/289741. (23) See Decisions 92/329/EEC and 2001/168/ECSC. (24) See Case 48/69, ICI v Commission [1972] ECR 619, paragraph 49. (25) Case 730/79 Philip Morris v Commission [1980] ECR 2671. (26) According to report No 2/2002 of the European Observatory for SMEs, the total number of companies in the Netherlands is 555000. (27) Judgment of 23 October 2002, Case T-346/99 [2002], p. II-4259, paragraphs 58-63. (28) Case 173/73 Italy v Commission [1974] ECR 709, paragraphs 22-33. (29) Case C-295/97 Piaggio [1999] ECR I-3735, paragraphs 44 et seq. (30) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. (31) Paragraphs 83 and 84. (32) Joined cases T-195/01 and T-207/01 [2002] ECR II-2309, paragraph 121. (33) For the definition of initial investments, see point 4.4 of the Guidelines on national regional aid (OJ C 74,10.3.1998, p. 9). (34) Case 265/85 Van den Bergh en Jurgens v Commission [1987] ECR 1155, paragraph 44. (35) See footnote 16.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), Β© European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
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