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Europe’s top court on Tuesday ruled against the tech giant in its decade-long court battle over Irish tax matters.
The ECJ’s announcement came hours after Apple unveiled a slew of new products aimed at revitalizing its iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPod lines.
CNBC has reached out to Apple for comment. The company’s shares were down 1% in pre-market trading at 09:07 a.m. London time.
In 2014, the European Commission, the EU’s executive agency, launched an investigation into Apple’s tax situation in Ireland, the EU headquarters.
In 2016, the European Commission ordered Dublin to recover up to 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in back taxes from Apple, saying at the time that the technology company had received “illegal” tax benefits from Ireland over two decades.
Apple and Ireland appealed the European Commission’s decision in 2019, and in 2020 the EU’s General Court sided with the U.S. tech giant. The EU’s second-highest court overturned the European Commission’s 2016 decision and said the enforcement agency had failed to prove that the Irish government had granted Apple tax benefits.
The Commission subsequently appealed the decision of the General Court and referred the proceedings to the European Court of Justice.
The case, initially launched under outgoing competition chief Margrethe Vestager, highlights the ongoing conflict between U.S. tech giants and the European Union as it attempts to resolve issues ranging from data protection to issues such as taxation and antitrust.
This isn’t the last time Apple has been targeted by the EU. Most recently, the European Commission slapped iPhone maker Apple with a €1.8 billion ($1.99 billion) antitrust fine in March for abusing its dominant position in the music streaming app distribution market.
In addition, the EU’s comprehensive digital market bill forces companies to change some practices in Europe. The Commission has launched multiple investigations under the DMA into technology giants such as Apple, Alphabet and Meta.
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