Legal victory for European Commission in key cases against Apple and Google
The Court of Justice of the European Union has definitively ruled in favour of the European Commission against Apple and Google in two long-running legal cases.
The CJEU, the court of last instance, ruled on Tuesday that Apple should pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland for having benefited from undue tax advantages, deemed to be illegal state aid.
In a separate ruling, the court upheld a 2.4 billion dollar fine against Google for anti-competitive practices.
The Apple case dates back to 2016, when the European Commission ordered the company to pay back the 13 billion euros to Ireland. The sum corresponds to the benefits derived from favourable tax treatment between 2003 and 2014 in Ireland, where Apple had repatriated all its income earned in Europe, as well as in Africa, the Middle East and India.
'Fresh decision'
At first instance, the EU General Court annulled the decision in 2020, and the Commission appealed to the CJEU.
In November 2023, advocate general Giovanni Pitruzzella proposed that the Court set aside the judgment and refer the case back to the General Court of the EU “for a fresh decision on the merits”.
The Court did not follow this opinion and now “gives final judgment on the dispute and confirms the European Commission’s decision of 2016”, saying in a press release issued on Tuesday that “Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover”.
'Abuse of position'
In the case against Google, the judges confirmed a fine of 2.4 billion euros imposed on the group in 2017 for abuse of a dominant position in the online search market. This is the second highest financial penalty ever imposed by the EU in an antitrust case.
The Court found that Google had “abused its dominant position by favouring its own product comparison service” and dismissed the appeal brought by Google and parent company Alphabet.
Google was accused of favouring its Google Shopping price comparison service by making its competitors virtually invisible to consumers. It has been forced to change the way its search results are displayed in order to comply with European requirements.
Google "abused its dominant position by favouring its own product comparison service”
The European Court of First Instance ruled in favour of the Commission in an initial judgement in November 2021. However, Google lodged an appeal, calling for the fine to be annulled.
The case began in 2010 when the Commission opened an investigation following complaints from competitors.
In total, Google has been fined more than 8 billion euros for various breaches of competition. The group is also under fire in the US and the UK.
EU Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager in Brussels, March 2019 © PHOTO JOHN THYS / AFP
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