A decision looms on the EU’s lengthy investigation into Apple’s tax arrangements
by Matthew Lynn
Telegraph.co.uk
Paying too little tax. Invading privacy. Creating dangerous monopolies. EU officials never seem to run out of sticks with which to beat American multinationals – and they are getting increasingly aggressive in using them.
So systematic has the harassment become that the US is now fighting back, accusing the Europeans or unfairly targeting its corporate giants.
That is wrong in itself – but it also has worrying implications for British businesses. Put simply, we’re next.
If the Americans are right – and they surely are – that the EU is turning into an inward-looking club, using tax and monopoly investigations as form of backdoor protectionism to discriminate against companies from outside the bloc, then once we are outside we are likely to be targeted as well.