German chemical giant BASF and UK oil and petrochemicals giant BP are among the estimate 35 multinational companies with extensive operations in Belgium being targeted by the EU’s competition commissioner, Margarethe Vestager, for receiving allegedly overgenerous tax benefits from the government of the Benelux country.

Vestager said her investigation revealed that Belgium’s so-called "express profit" tax scheme, which enabled multinational companies to pay lower taxes, was operating in breach of EU rules. She has ordered Belgium to rescind some of the benefits and collect a total of €700 million from the beneficiaries, including around €500 million from European players.

Initial reports said BASF, which operates a large back-integrated production hub at Antwerp, had been ordered to repay €200 million; however, the group later said the amount was exaggerated.

The Commissioner is said to be under pressure from the US government to go after European companies as she has American corporations such as Amazon, Apple, Starbucks and, most recently, McDonald’s.

In October 2015, the Commission began looking at tax benefits offered multinational companies by Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Ireland has also come under scrutiny.