The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday that Google had violated antitrust laws and that Apple needed to pay the European Union €13 billion ($14.3 billion) in back taxes. Both cases are seen as an effort by Brussels to close tax loopholes exploited by the US tech giants.

"Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid, which Ireland is required to recover," ECJ judges said, referring to the company's deal with Dublin over taxes.

The case against Google dates back to 2017, when the EU accused Google of prioritizing its own Google Shopping links in searches. The bloc has argued this violates its antitrust regulations.

Google was fined €2.4 billion, but had appealed to the ECJ, which has now upheld the fine.

"In the light of the characteristics of the market and the specific circumstances of the case, Google's conduct was discriminatory and did not fall within the scope of competition on the merits," judges said.

In a response, Google said that they had already made changes back in 2017 to comply with EU regulations.

Apple's long bitter feud with the EU

Europe's case against Apple began in 2016, over allegations it received a sweetheart tax deal with authorities in Ireland, the location of the company's European headquarters.

The EU has long demanded that Apple pay back billions of taxes for two Irish subsidies that the company argues are primarily taxable in the United States. Arguing that they were being subjected to double taxation, and that the situation did not preclude state aid from Dublin, Apple initially won a ruling against the European Commission to annul the payment order.

The Commission first appealed that decision in 2020, prompting four more years of legal wrangling before today's ECJ verdict in their favor.

Both the judgments against Google and Apple are final and cannot be overturned.

EU and Apple reactions

The EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager welcomed the judgments. "Today is a huge win for European citizens and tax justice," she posted on X of the Apple ruling, also praising the Google judgment as a big win for digital fairness.

Apple, however, said in a statement: "The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the US."

es/kb (AFP, dpa)