LONDON (AP) — The European Commission said Friday it is appealing a court decision that Apple doesn’t have to repay 13 billion euros ($15 billion) in back taxes to Ireland.
The appeal comes after the U.S. tech giant scored a big recent legal victory in its long battle with the European Union’s executive Commission, which has been trying to rein in multinationals’ ability to strike special tax deals with individual EU countries.
The EU’s General Court ruled that the commission wrongly declared in 2016 that Apple was given illegal state aid when it struck a low tax rate agreement with Irish authorities.
The EU Commission “respectfully considers that in its judgment the General Court has made a number of errors of law. For this reason, the Commission is bringing this matter before the European Court of Justice,” the bloc’s highest court, Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said.
The judgment can only be appealed on points of law. Vestager said it raises important legal issues that are relevant to applying rules against unfair state aid to tax cases.
