Bhathiya Barukanda
A top European Union court on Tuesday told Google it would have to pay a €2.4 billion fine brought forth by the bloc’s antitrust regulators seven years ago, just as the court rejected Apple’s final legal challenge against an order from the European Commission to repay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland.
A top EU court on Tuesday delivered two major victories for Brussels by ruling against Apple and Google in separate legal sagas with billions of euros at play.
The decisions give a boost to the bloc’s outgoing competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, who had suffered a series of setbacks in EU courts against her decisions.
Concluding a long-running legal battle, the European Court of Justice, the bloc’s highest court, ruled that the iPhone maker must pay 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion) in back-taxes to Ireland.
“The Court of Justice gives final judgment in the matter and confirms the European Commission’s 2016 decision: Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover,” the court said in a statement. Legal headaches for Google are mounting across the Atlantic as well.
(AFP)
