2023-11-09 15:06:04
Margrethe Vestager, who took leave to campaign in the race for the presidency of the European Investment Bank, has no longer served as competition commissioner for several months. But, without a doubt, the Dane was impatiently, even anxiously, awaiting the legal consequences in the 13 billion euro clash which has pitted Apple and Ireland against the European Commission for seven years. Thursday, November 9, she could only be reassured by the conclusions of Giovanni Pitruzzella, the advocate general of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), which constitute a serious setback for the apple firm.
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The case began in 2016, when the community executive ordered Apple to reimburse 13 billion euros to Ireland, on the grounds that the tax breaks from which the American giant benefited in this country between 2003 and 2014 were in reality illegal state aid. But in 2020, the EU court, seized by Apple and Ireland, denounced such reasoning and overturned Brussels’ decision.
Today, the Advocate General of the CJEU, to which the Commission appealed, believes that in 2020 the EU court has “committed several errors of law”. In this context, he continues, he is ” necessary “ that he “carries out a new assessment” and that the case be retried on its merits. If the opinion of the advocate general is not binding, it is, most often, followed by the judges in the months that follow.
A fight against tax evasion
During a hearing before the court in May, the Commission’s lawyer, Paul-John Loewenthal, argued “violation of procedure” et “many other legal errors” by the EU court. He recalled that the Irish subsidiary of Apple – where the Cupertino group (California) then repatriated all of its European, African, Middle Eastern and Indian profits – had been subject to an effective tax rate “ranging from 1% in 2003 to 0.005% in 2014”. Apple’s lawyer, Daniel Beard, for his part, replied that the iPhone manufacturer had not benefited from“no preferential treatment” and had paid, in accordance with the tax rules then in force, its taxes on profits generated in Ireland only.
“The court’s decision was very clear: Apple did not benefit from any selective advantage or state aid, and we believe that this decision should be upheld”simply reminded Apple on Thursday. “Ireland’s position has always been, and remains, that the correct amount of Irish tax has been paid and that Ireland has not provided any state aid to Apple. We now await the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union on this issue”for his part, reacted the Irish Minister of Finance, Michael McGrath.
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