European Commission, appeal against Apple and Ireland

The European Commission, through the voice of Vice President Margrethe Vestager, has announced that it will appeal the decision of the European Court which annulled the 2016 fine against Apple in relation to taxes paid in Ireland (and evaded in Europe according to the point of view of the Commission). In announcing this sensational decision, the Commission takes sides against the decision of the Court, within which it claims there are some legal errors and for which new elements have also emerged to take into consideration.

It should be remembered how the Apple's victory in the Court dates back to July and amounts to something like 14.5 billion euros, a figure linked to taxes that according to the EU institutions would have been evaded through the exclusive agreement signed with Ireland.

European Commission on appeal

In short: on the one hand, the Commission wants to prevent Ireland from continuing to be that small tax haven for multinationals to arrive in Europe, which leads to significant shortages in continental level and which favors in fact, the tax profile of non-European companies; on the other hand, the EU wants to send a clear message to these companies, using the Apple case as a bolt to change a situation that has become unsustainable once and for all.

If member states give certain multinationals tax advantages unavailable to their rivals, this undermines competition in the European Union in violation of state aid rules.

Europe expects the companies that work there to pay taxes locally. To achieve this, it is necessary to unhinge the mechanism that leads large US groups to establish their own local headquarters in Ireland, where with special agreements they find themselves paying extremely low taxes. It will not be financial or political agreements that will resolve the issue, but probably a sentence. The CURIA is therefore called upon to reassess the decisions taken and for this reason the European Commission will present relevant documentation to demonstrate how the situation is different from that which led to the cancellation of the previous sanction.

Source: European Commission