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☆ Setback for Apple as EU court advisor backs EU's $14 bln tax order
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple iPhone 15 series devices are displayed for sale at The Grove Apple retail store on release day in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 2023. The tax case against Apple was part of EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's crackdown against deals between multinationals and EU countries which regulators saw as unfair state aid. The General Court in 2020 upheld Apple's challenge, saying that regulators had not met the legal standard to show Apple had enjoyed an unfair advantage. Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella at the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) said CJEU judges should set aside the General Court ruling and refer the case back to the lower tribunal. "The judgment of the General Court on 'tax rulings' adopted by Ireland in relation to Apple should be set aside," he said in a non-binding opinion.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager's, Apple, Apple's, Giovanni Pitruzzella, CJEU Organizations: Apple, Grove Apple, European Commission, EU, of Justice Locations: Los Angeles , California, Ireland

The European Commission in its 2016 decision said Apple benefited from two Irish tax rulings for more than two decades that artificially reduced its tax burden to as low as 0.005% in 2014. "The judgment of the General Court on 'tax rulings' adopted by Ireland in relation to Apple should be set aside," he said in a non-binding opinion. "It is therefore necessary for the General Court to carry out a new assessment," Pitruzzella said. Her biggest legal victory to date came in September when the General Court upheld her decision against a 700-million-euro Belgian tax scheme for 55 multinationals. Vestager is currently investigating IKEA brand owner Inter IKEA's Dutch tax arrangement in a case dating from 2017, Nike's (NKE.N) Dutch tax rulings and Finnish food and drink packaging company Huhtamaki's (HUH1V.HE) tax rulings granted by Luxembourg.

Persons: Mike Blake, Margrethe Vestager's, Apple, Apple's, Giovanni Pitruzzella, CJEU, Pitruzzella, Michael McGrath, Court’s, Vestager, Stellantis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, EU, Apple, European Commission, of Justice, Justice, Court, Ireland, Dublin, Starbucks, IKEA, Inter IKEA's, Thomson Locations: La Jolla , California, U.S, Rights LUXEMBOURG, Ireland, Belgian, Luxembourg

BRUSSELS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - European Union's second-top court on Wednesday backed an EU competition regulator's decision against a 700-million-euro ($748 million) Belgian tax scheme for 55 multinationals, in a major win for EU antitrust chief's crackdown on sweetheart tax deals. The Luxembourg-based General Court had in 2019 annulled Margrethe Vestager's decision after Belgium and about 30 of the companies challenged it. Beneficiaries of the Belgian scheme that dated from 2005 included U.S. manufacturer Magnetrol, oil company BP (BP.L), chemical producer BASF (BASFn.DE), Wabco, Cellio, Atlas Copco (ATCOa.ST) and Belgacom, now Proximus (PROX.BR) . The EU Court of Justice, Europe's top court, in 2021 however sided with the EU competition enforcer and referred the case back to the lower tribunal. Belgium can still appeal to the EU Court of Justice.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager's, Atlas, Europe's, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Belgian, EU, BP, BASF, Justice, Belgian Finance Ministry, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Luxembourg, Belgium, Brussels, Amsterdam

BRUSSELS, July 18 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday criticised EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's decision to hire a U.S. economist over a European to help oversee Big Tech, adding her previous work could lead to conflicts of interest. Macron added he was "attached to reciprocity", and noted that the U.S. and China would not have appointed an overseas national in such a role. Scott Morton will advise the European Commission on its investigations into Big Tech and its enforcement of a series of landmark rules to rein in tech giants. Macron pointed to her previous work for "many companies" as something that could also result in conflicts of interest. She said previous chief economists at the Commission had also done consulting work without posing any issues.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Margrethe Vestager's, Vestager, Fiona Scott Morton, Barack Obama's, Macron, Scott Morton, Jean Tirole, Scott Morton's, Sudip Kar, Bernadette Baum, Sharon Singleton, Jan Harvey Organizations: Big Tech, U.S . Department of Justice, European Union, Commission, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, China

☆ EU Commission sticks to US economist pick for senior antitrust job
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, July 14 (Reuters) - The European Commission stuck to its guns on Friday, saying it was not reconsidering EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's pick of a U.S. economist to a senior job helping to oversee Big Tech despite criticism from French ministers and EU lawmakers. Fiona Scott Morton, 56, the former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Justice during former President Barack Obama's tenure, will take up her three-year stint on Sept. 1 when the current chief economist, Pierre Regibeau, retires. She will be the first non-EU national, first U.S. national and first woman for the job. They cited the strategic importance of the post, potential conflicts of interest due to Scott Morton's previous work with Big Tech, and her previous public antitrust comments. Head of the centre-right group European People's Party Manfred Weber, president of the liberals' group Renew Europe Stephane Sejourne, head of the socialists group Iratxe Garcia Perez and the heads of the green party Philippe Lamberts and Terry Reintke said they opposed the new hire.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager's, Fiona Scott Morton, Barack Obama's, Pierre Regibeau, Vestager, Scott Morton's, Dana Spinant, European People's Party Manfred Weber, Europe Stephane Sejourne, Iratxe Garcia Perez, Philippe Lamberts, Terry Reintke, Scott Morton, Foo Yun Chee, Jan Harvey Organizations: European Commission, Big Tech, U.S . Department of Justice, EU, European People's Party, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, U.S, Europe

☆ Blow for EU crackdown on tax deals as Fiat wins appeal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] New Fiat Panda and Fiat 500 mild-hybrid cars are seen in piazza Maggiore, in Bologna, Italy, February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo ScalzoLUXEMBOURG, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler on Tuesday won its fight against an EU order to pay 30 million euros ($30 million) in back taxes to Luxembourg, dealing a major setback to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's crackdown on sweetheart deals between EU countries and multinationals. In her 2015 decision, Vestager said Luxembourg had granted Fiat Chrysler, now part of Stellantis (STLA.MI), an unfair tax advantage by endorsing artificial and complex methods that artificially lowered the company's taxes. Judges faulted the EU competition watchdog for its analysis of the reference system used to determine whether Luxembourg had given a selective advantage to Fiat. Vestager's high profile cases include her record 13-billion-euro tax order for Apple (AAPL.O) and Amazon's (AMZN.O) Luxembourg deal.

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