Paris (AFP)
"France will continue to fight" for increased taxation of digital giants, said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Wednesday after the European judges annulled a Brussels decision summoning Apple to reimburse the Ireland of tax advantages deemed undue.
Despite Apple's legal victory, "we will continue to fight for minimum taxation (...) France will continue to fight at European and international level to overhaul the international tax system", assured Le Maire in a statement sent to AFP.
"We are resolutely opposed to fiscal dumping in the European Union (EU). The future of the EU depends on fiscal harmonization, not on fiscal dumping. We are opposed to any tax optimization mechanism still in force ", also tackled the minister.
The European Commission had summoned the American technological juggernaut to reimburse Ireland some 13 billion euros in tax benefits - deemed improper by Brussels, which saw it as illegal "state aid". But Apple and Dublin had appealed the sanction, and European justice agreed with them in a decision released on Wednesday.
The European judges considered that the Commission had not demonstrated "the existence of a selective economic advantage" - a scathing setback for the Danish Margrethe Vestager, vice-president of the European Commission in charge of competition.
Known for its "pro-business" positions, Ireland - which has attracted many multinationals to the island thanks to favorable taxation - has "welcomed" the judgment of the European Court.
"The digital giants are the big winners of the economic crisis. This is another reason to advance on digital taxation at the OECD," also insisted Wednesday Bruno Le Maire, who made the taxation of the sector l one of his workhorses.
The disavowal of Brussels comes at a time when several European countries, including France, want to achieve better taxation of digital giants by taxing them where they make profits - efforts to which the administration of the government is fiercely opposed. US President Donald Trump.
© 2020 AFP