Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe (C-885/19 P)

The CJ clarified that for the purposes of State aid, a selective advantage can only be determined in comparison to the tax system normally applicable in a Member State. The Commission is not empowered to autonomously define what the ‘normal taxation’ of an integrated (group) company should look like. Only national legal provisions are relevant, recognizing legislative choices made. Any parameters and rules such as OECD Guidelines that are not part of the national law are of no relevance, unless explicit reference is made to them. If the Commission would like to question the at arm’s length principle as implemented in national law as such, it should prove systematic undervaluation for certain groups of companies by design, a differentiation not justified by the objective of the tax system. As for an individual analysis of whether a (non-selective) at arm​​’s length rule was applied correctly, a mere superficial reference to domestic law as a subsidiary ground in the Commission’s recovery decision could not save the present case as the Court found that the analytical framework used did not pay attention to all relevant norms under Luxembourg law.