AAPL Apple Inc

By Valentina Pop

BRUSSELS--Apple Inc.'s legal battle in Europe over a 13 billion-euro ($15.2 billion) tax bill will continue, potentially for years, after the European Union appealed a court ruling that sided with the U.S. tech giant.

EU officials doubled down Friday on their finding from 2016, which alleged that Ireland had granted illegal tax breaks to Apple. This followed the company's unexpected win in July at the bloc's second-highest court, where judges said the European Commission --the EU's competition enforcement arm-- didn't bring enough evidence that Ireland had granted illegal tax breaks to Apple between 2003 and 2014.

European Commission Executive Vice-President in charge of competition and digital policy Margrethe Vestager on Friday said the second-highest court had "made a number of errors", which led her to appeal.

She also said the court had confirmed that EU governments need to respect the bloc's strict state aid rules when determining their taxation policies. "Making sure that all companies, big and small, pay their fair share of tax remains a top priority for the commission," Ms. Vestager said.

Apple did not immediately comment on the decision.

The total sum of EUR14.3 billion, which includes interest, will remain parked in escrow until the European Court of Justice, the bloc's highest court, renders its judgment.

-Sam Schechner in Paris contributed to this article

Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2020 06:06 ET (10:06 GMT)

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