In a scathing attack today chiefs at the world’s richest company accused Brussels bureaucrats of “rewriting history” and hinted that 22,000 jobs and billions of pounds of investment in the continent is now on the line. Express concludes.
This morning EU chiefs ordered Ireland to claw back billions of pounds in unpaid tax over two decades after ruling that a series of sweetheart deals with Apple were illegal.
But the Irish government has taken the technology giant’s side, insisting it does not want the money and vowing to take the EU to court over the decision.
The extraordinary row comes at a time of huge economic instability for the EU, which is still reeling from the Brexit vote, and once again risks undermining Brussels’ already severely battered credibility.
In a fiery statement Apple chief Tim Cook said: “The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and up-end the international tax system in the process.
“The Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it’s about which government collects the money.
“Apple follows the law and pays all of the taxes we owe wherever we operate. We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned.”
And in a coded swipe at Brussels over jobs and investments, he raged: “The Commission’s move is unprecedented and it has serious, wide-reaching implications.
“It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.
He added: “It is effectively proposing to replace Irish tax laws with a view of what the Commission thinks the law should have been.
“This would strike a devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states over their own tax matters, and to the principle of certainty of law in Europe.”
