Apple and Google lost lawsuits appealing fines imposed by the European Union (EU).
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the EU's highest court, ruled on the 10th (local time) against Apple in the appeal case where Apple claimed the €13 billion (approximately 19 trillion KRW) fine imposed by the EU for receiving 'unfair tax benefits' from the Irish government was unjust.
The court ruled that Apple must pay the fine imposed by the European Commission, the EU's executive body, in 2016. The lower court had canceled the collection order, stating there was no legal basis to consider it an 'unfair benefit,' but this was overturned in the appeal.
Previously, in 2016, the European Commission ordered Ireland to collect €13 billion in back taxes plus interest, totaling €14.3 billion, from Apple, stating that the tax benefits Apple received in Ireland, an EU member state, violated EU state aid rules and were unfair.
However, Ireland, which has attracted multinational investments through low tax rates, opposed the Commission's decision and filed a lawsuit together with Apple. But with the CJEU's final ruling on this day, the legal battle over the multi-trillion won fine ended after eight years with a victory for the Commission.
Google also lost its lawsuit appealing the fine imposed by the Commission on the same day.
The CJEU dismissed the appeal filed by Google's parent company Alphabet against the lower court ruling that upheld the €2.4 billion (approximately 3.5 trillion KRW) antitrust fine imposed on Google Shopping by the EU in 2017.
Previously, in June 2017, the Commission fined Google for restricting competition by favoring its own comparison shopping service over competing services.
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