IP/09/1770

Brussels, 20 November 2009

Direct taxation: The Commission requests Belgium to change its legislation implementing the Parent-Subsidiary Directive

The European Commission has sent a reasoned opinion (the second step of the infringement procedure of Article 226 of the EC Treaty) to Belgium about its rules implementing the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (90/435/EEC). The Belgian rules introduce an additional condition to those specified in article 3 of the Directive. If Belgium does not reply satisfactorily to this reasoned opinion within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.

Article 3 of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive stipulates the conditions for its application. It provides unequivocally that the Directive must be applied when a company has a minimum holding of 10% in the capital of a company of another Member State, leaving no room for further conditions.

According to the Belgian legislation implementing the Directive, a shareholding must also be considered as a "fixed financial asset" for the Directive to apply. As a consequence, companies not fulfilling this requirement are wrongly denied the benefits provided under the Parent-Subsidiary Directive.

The Commission's case reference number is 2007/4333.

For the press releases issued on infringement procedures in the taxation or customs area see:

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/common/infringements/infringement_cases/index_en.htm

For the latest general information on infringement measures against Member States see:

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/infringements/infringements_en.htm