Source: Finance Association
Author: Xia Junxiong
① Apple has filed a lawsuit in the EU General Court to reverse the $20 fine previously imposed on it by the European Commission;
② While Apple is appealing the European Commission's fine, the final outcome of another “fight” between the two is still pending.
Court documents show that Apple has filed a lawsuit in the EU General Court to overturn the $20 fine previously imposed on it by the European Commission.
In March of this year, the European Commission fined Apple 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the music streaming app distribution market.
This is the first time that the EU has imposed an antitrust fine on Apple, and it is also one of the biggest fines the EU has imposed on technology companies. The European Union has previously imposed two huge fines on Google, amounting to 4.3 billion US dollars and 2.4 billion US dollars respectively. Google has also filed an appeal against these two cases.
In March 2019, Swedish music streaming service Spotify filed a lawsuit against the Apple App Store's 30% commission rate, accusing Apple of abusing its dominant position on the platform. EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation against Apple in June 2020.
The fine of more than 1.8 billion euros far exceeded market expectations, and Apple also indicated that it would file an appeal as soon as the fine was implemented.
It should be clarified that the European Court of Justice is divided into three parts, namely the (EU) ordinary courts, specialized courts, and the European Court of Justice (Supreme Court).
It may take years for the EU General Court to issue a ruling. If the ruling is unfavorable to Apple, the company can still continue to appeal to the European Court of Justice, which may delay the lawsuit for a few more years.
The EU and Apple have another “fight”
While Apple is appealing the European Commission's fine, the final outcome of another “fight” between the two is still pending.
In August 2016, the European Commission ruled that the low tax rate enjoyed by Apple in Ireland was equivalent to Ireland providing it with a national subsidy, and this was not in line with relevant EU rules; Apple had to pay up to 13 billion euros in taxes. The Irish government and Apple later appealed the ruling.
In July 2020, the EU General Court ruled that the European Commission's 2016 ruling failed to legally prove that the low tax rate enjoyed by Apple was unfair, and rescinded the European Commission's 2016 ruling.
In May of last year, the European Commission filed an appeal with the European Court of Justice, requesting that Apple pay an additional 13 billion euros in taxes to Ireland.
In November of last year, the European Court of Justice General Counsel said that the EU General Court made a legal mistake in ruling on Apple's tax avoidance case and that the case should be re-examined. This means that Apple may need to pay up to 13 billion euros in taxes.
Editor/Jeffy