EU Commission says not targeting U.S. firms

[December 03, 2015]  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said on Thursday it was not targeting U.S. companies in its antitrust and state aid investigations, after an inquiry was launched into the tax arrangements of McDonald's.

"Any suggestion that we are specifically targeting U.S. companies is unfounded and untrue," the spokesperson said.

"EU competition rules, including state aid rules, apply to all companies that operate in the single market, whether they are large or small or whether they are EU companies, or Japanese companies or Chinese companies. Every case is simply assessed on its own merits."

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

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