The European antitrust champion, Margrethe Vestager, does not stop in her battle on the tax side against Apple and Ireland, despite the painful defeat suffered in July at the EU Court.
The vice president decided to appeal that decision which, by canceling Brussels' request to Apple to return 13 billion euros to Ireland, belied years of European investigations that proved that those tax rebates were illegal aid.
"The court ruling raises important legal issues" and "the Commission respectfully believes that the court made a number of legal errors in its ruling," Vestager said in announcing the move.
The fight against multinational corporations that legally evade the tax authorities, aided by governments happy to attract investments, especially if they are billionaires, has been his main battle throughout his previous term.
In the new Commission, which has become even more powerful because it has risen to the rank of executive vice president, it does not intend to back down.
"Ensuring that all companies, large and small, pay their fair share of taxes remains a top priority for the Commission", continues Vestager, stressing that "the Tribunal has repeatedly upheld the principle that, although Member States have the to determine their tax legislation, they must do so in compliance with EU law, including state aid rules ".
The decision of the Court had been a surprise for Brussels, which had seen an investigation dismantled which lasted several years and which in 2016 had established as thanks to two 'tax rulings', i.e. 'ad hoc' tax agreements between authorities and companies, entered into in 1991 and 2007, Apple systematically evaded taxes it should have paid on all profits generated on sales in the EU and also in Africa and the Middle East.
This is thanks to the well-known 'profit shift' scheme.