Dutch Finance Min: EU ruling shows Starbucks treated equally

An EU court ruling on Tuesday overturning an order that Starbucks pay the Dutch state back taxes shows the multinational "was treated the same as other companies," the Dutch Finance Ministry said.

"This brings clarity in the state aid case against the Dutch state," it said. The ruling stated that Starbucks does not have to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) in back taxes to the Netherlands, as ordered by the EU Commission.

Europe's second-highest court, the General Court, said: "the (European) Commission was unable to demonstrate the existence of an advantage in favour of Starbucks".