American tech giants face massive fines from EU court

The European Union Court of Justice has held American technology corporations accountable. It has fined Apple and Google. Both companies must pay over 15 billion euros in total.

The actions of American, African, Latin American, Asian, and Australian companies in the European Union are not always subject to thorough control. This results from differences in laws depending on where the company originates. Customers and employees often seek justice, the highest instance being the Court of Justice of the European Union. Judges scrutinize all discrepancies, regardless of their dimensions. The CJEU already has, among other things, rulings on vegan meat substitutes. Now, the matter is more serious.

On September 10, 2024, in Luxembourg, verdicts were passed in the cases of American technology giants. One was a lawsuit against Alphabet, the owner of Google. The manufacturer of iPhones, Apple, was also sued. Alphabet was accused of positioning its own search results higher than those of other companies. The Court of Justice ruled that Google violated EU law. This includes the positioning of hotels, airline tickets, and consumer goods in online stores. For favouring its product comparison services, the giant must pay a fine of 2.4 billion euros (about CAD 3.5 billion). The case against Alphabet has been ongoing since 2017.

September 10 also proved unlucky for the electronics manufacturer with the distinctive apple logo. The Court of Justice of the European Union ordered Apple to pay Ireland 13 billion euros (about CAD 19 billion) in back taxes. The issue of taxes was first raised in 2016, when legal experts noticed that Apple, in violation of EU regulations, had made a very favourable tax agreement with Ireland, thus avoiding paying multibillion-dollar taxes in that country.