Costs and contingency reserves for appeals against fines and tax assessments

16.12.2020

Question for written answer  E-006902/2020
to the Commission
Rule 138
Markus Buchheit (ID)

When Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager issued numerous fines and tax assessments, chiefly to large US corporations and often against the advice of her in-house legal experts, with a view to boosting her popularity in the run-up to the last European elections and her ultimately unsuccessful bid for Commission presidency. The Commission is now losing a series of appeals brought by these companies before the Court of Justice.

• 1.How much has the Commission so far paid out in legal costs for lost cases for which Margrethe Vestager is responsible?
• 2.Has it been made liable for the costs of these rulings?
• 3.How much has been set aside in the Commission's budget as reserves for the probable reimbursement of the billions of euros in fines issued?