The American business lobby, the Business Roundtable, has warned European leaders about the precedent they feel has been set by the European Commission's decision to order Ireland to recover €13 billion plus interest in overdue unpaid tax from the American company Apple. The Commission found that Apple had received illegal state aid granted by means of a tax ruling.
Business Roundtable wrote to the leaders of the member states on Friday 16 September, effectively asking them to take a stand against the Commission's decision.
"The precedent set by this decision (…) would increase uncertainty significantly with a consequent adverse effect on foreign investment in Europe, making this decision a grievous self-inflicted wound for the European Union and its citizens", the lobby writes, in a letter that has been made public.
It goes on to play on an issue of great sensitivity for the member states, that of their sovereignty in taxation matters. "This decision sets a precedent that EU member states do not control their tax affairs and it raises questions as to whether member states have the capacity to enter into and honour their [tax] commitments".
"The retroactive nature of the EC decision means that a business can never have certainty even on its past tax liability unless or until the EC chooses to decide accordingly", Business Roundtable goes on to stress. The retroactive effect of the Commission's decision, even though this is standard, is also a concern expressed by the Luxembourg and Belgian finance ministers.
The lobby concludes by stating that it "looks forward to the support of [the leaders] to overturn this EC decision and put an end to the use of state aid investigations it will hamper economic growth by undermining cross-border investment". (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)