The European Union has ordered Belgium to recover around $760 million from 35 major multinational companies after giving them illegal tax breaks. Under a tax scheme in place since 2005, some firms could reduce taxable profits in Belgium by up to 90%, reported the BBC.

Belgium broke EU state aid rules by doing so, as the tax breaks amount to a government subsidy that is aimed at attracting multinationals to do business in certain countries. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said, "It distorts competition on the merits by putting smaller competitors who are not multinational on an unequal footing."

The EU has also launched investigations into other countries' tax deals, including Apple's with Ireland, Starbucks' with the Netherlands and McDonald's with Luxembourg, reported AFP. In October the commission had ruled that Luxembourg and the Netherlands had granted selective tax advantages to Fiat and Starbucks, respectively.