CFE Opinion Statement on the ‘Apple State Aid Case’
CFE Opinion Statement ECJ-TF 2/2024CFE Opinion Statement ECJ-TF 2/2024 on the Apple State Aid Case C-465/20 P, Commission v Ireland
This Opinion Statement seeks to explain and analyse the CJEU’s reasoning both with respect to the annulment of the General Court’s judgment and its final ruling on the granting of illegal state aid to the Apple Group. CFE Tax Advisers Europe welcomes the CJEU’s decision to give a final judgment in the case to prevent a prolonged uncertainty over the outcome. It wonders, however, how the judgment fits with recent case law of the Court, which had shown more deference to Member States’ interpretation of their law in assessing derogations from ‘normal taxation’ in specific cases.
CFE Tax Advisers Europe wonders whether the judgment’s outcome, insofar as it sits in tension to holdings in its earlier judgments in Fiat and Engie, and the later judgment in UK CFC might be considered as specific to the circumstances of the procedure. In particular, this relates to the fact that the CJEU did not review the findings of the General Court it had rejected in that judgment but, in the absence of a cross-appeal by Ireland or Apple, had considered res judicata in this decision. In light of these considerations, the CFE expects the Court will clarify the status of its judgment in this case and its previous case law in future decisions.
