On Wednesday, Amazon secured a significant legal victory when an EU court overturned a directive from the bloc's powerful antitrust regulator that Luxembourg recovers 250 million euros ($295 million) in unpaid payments.

The judgment dealt another setback to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who blamed Luxembourg in 2017 for providing tax benefits to the internet retailer that led to unlawful state funding.

The EU General Court ruled that the small EU Duchy had provided the company with "no selective benefit," according to a report.

The EU has suffered a loss less than a year after iPhone maker Apple secured a dramatic lawsuit in the same court against the European Commission's blockbuster decision demanding Apple refund Ireland 13 billion euros in 2016.

Meanwhile, Engie, the French oil giant, lost its petition in the same court on Wednesday against the same EU request to refund Luxembourg 120 million euros in taxes. In that situation, the EU's General Court ruled that the commission had established a tax benefit given by Luxembourg to the group.

The cases arose in the aftermath of the 2014 LuxLeaks scandals, which revealed secret agreements between Luxembourg and dozens of firms that promised extremely low tax payments.

In the Amazon event, Vestager blamed Luxembourg for making an unfair bargain with the internet giant for it to pay less tax than other companies.

Amazon declared in a statement, "We welcome the Court's ruling, which is consistent with our long-standing view that we followed all relevant laws and that Amazon got no preferential treatment."

Luxembourg also applauded the court ruling on Amazon and stated that it would “reserve all rights” in the Engie case in the possibility of an appeal.

Luxembourg, which has historically served as a centre for foreign corporations pursuing lower tax bills, cited “numerous measures in previous years to fight tax avoidance and fraud.”

“The decisions should not bring Luxembourg's pledge to fairness in tax issues and the battle against tax avoidance activities into question,” the statement continued.

The case revolved around a breach of the so-called "arm's length principle," which is intended for tax purposes to guarantee that payments between subsidiaries are focused on rates that all businesses will pay.

The court stated that the EU's methods for measuring the benefit were "dependent on an analysis that is erroneous in many respects."

The European Commission was not instantly available for clarification although it has previously stated that its prosecutions, win or lose, had a positive impact, with foreign attempts to close tax loopholes still undergoing.

In recent weeks, the United States has adopted the concept of a worldwide minimum income tax, which will render preferential incentives given to multinational corporations obsolete.

The OECD is now debating the minimum tax, which, if approved, will undoubtedly result in higher taxes for US tech behemoths and other multinational corporations.

The EU has struggled to protect its tax decisions, losing in court not only to Apple but also against Starbucks and the Netherlands.

These losses serve as a “sharp illustration of how tough it can be for state assistance laws to raise taxes,” according to Tove Maria Ryding, a tax justice specialist at the Brussels-based NGO Eurodad.

“We must immediately begin addressing the root condition, which is a severely flawed and dysfunctional corporate tax system,” she said.

The commission has filed an appeal against the EU General Court's ruling in the Apple case, which is now being heard by the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice.

Ericsson, a Swedish telecoms equipment manufacturer, announced on Wednesday that it had decided to pay Finnish rival Nokia 80 million euros ($97 million) to end a lawsuit involving bribery and financial fraud.

The agreement is linked to a US inquiry into Ericsson's operations in five countries between 2000 and 2016: China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kuwait, and Djibouti.

In 2019, the US Department of Justice declared that Ericsson will offer more than $1 billion in damages and penalties to settle the probe into Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations (FCPA).

Ericsson “confessed to a years-long policy of graft in five countries to strengthen its grasp on the telecommunication market,” according to US authorities.

Its failures to enforce enforcement and corporate controls "made it possible for its managers and staff to bribe people and fabricate its accounts and records."