European Commission's double win over tech giants Apple and Google

The European Commission has been handed two major victories against the technology giants Apple and Google. In a pair of rulings on Tuesday (September 10) the European Court of Justice ordered Apple to pay $14 billion in unpaid taxes and issued Google with a fine of around $2.6 billion.

Both are seen as significant wins for outgoing European Competition Commissioner Magrethe Vestager. In 2016 the Commission alleged that the iPhone maker's tax arrangement with Ireland provided the company with unfair advantages that weren't available to other firms.

The European Court of Justice on Tuesday reversed a lower court decision and ruled that Apple must pay Ireland $14 billion in back taxes. "Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover," the court said in its ruling.

At a news conference following the landmark ruling, Vestager described it as a win for the European Commission that helped level the playing field. While stating that individual nations have a right to define their own tax systems, the EU's competition commissioner said that it was up to the Commission to determine whether countries are deviating from their own rules.

The probe covered the period from 1991 to 2014 and, according to the European Commission, in 2014, Apple paid tax worth 0.05 percent on its EU profits.

Apple has rejected both the investigation and the court's ruling. Spokesperson Julien Trosdorf said the case had "never been about how much tax we pay but which government we are required to pay it to," adding that Apple, "always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal."

Google penalized

In a separate ruling the European Court of Justice ordered Google to pay a penalty worth €2.4bn ($2.6bn) for abusing its search engine dominance.

In 2017, the Commission found that the tech firm was giving preferential treatment in search results for its comparison shopping service. In its ruling the ECJ found that Google's actions were discriminatory and Google's appeal should be dismissed, "in its entirety."

Google said the decision was, "disappointing," adding that it had previously made changes to comply with the European Commission.

"Our approach has worked successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services," it added in a statement.

Vestager said she was positively surprised by these rulings and that it sent a message that big companies are not above the law.

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