The sporting goods giant Nike and its secondary brand Converse have failed with a lawsuit against a review of possible tax advantages in the Netherlands.
The court of the European Union ruled on Wednesday that the responsible EU Commission complied with the applicable rules when initiating the investigation.
A breach of the obligation to give reasons or obvious errors of assessment were not found either.
Since 2019, the EU Commission's competition watchdogs have been investigating whether the Nike European Operations Netherlands and Converse Netherlands, which are part of the Nike Group, may have benefited from unjustified tax advantages. However, the companies saw the investigation as unjustified and went to court. The decision of the EU court can still be appealed to the European Court of Justice.