EU scores 'big win' in court against Apple, Google

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00:00The European Union has scored two major legal victories in separate cases against Apple and

00:06Google. Concluding a long-running legal battle, the European Court of Justice ruled that Apple

00:11must pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland. Minutes later, the court also upheld a €2.4

00:20billion fine against Google. To tell us about these cases, Armen Georgian, our Europe editor,

00:26Armen Georgian, good day for the EU.

00:56Armen Georgian, good day for the EU.

01:26The European Court of Justice upheld that notion. So I think it's not only a kind of

01:34vindication for what the European Commission has been saying, but also kind of for the European

01:41Union's attempts to be seen as a super regulator. And not only, Nadia, when it comes to things like

01:49monopolies, competition law, tax dumping and so on, but also on the broader social issues.

01:55Because remember, we've also had a kind of stepping up of EU's attempts to regulate platforms

02:02when it comes to things like disinformation and hate speech in the context of elections. All of

02:07this through the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. So when the EU regulates,

02:12it's not only about these kind of what might seem like some narrow economic issues, but also

02:18when it comes to these broader questions of the European model or what the EU would say

02:23its kind of overall values are as well. Well, you say it's not just an economic issue,

02:28and you also want to talk about the American election in the context of this news today.

02:34How does this tech saga sort of play into potentially the presidential race?

02:39Well, there's a parallel between what's happening here and in the United States,

02:44because recently there was a US ruling on Google's market dominance. So that signal

02:50is slightly close, sort of coming together in a sense of the European and American approaches.

02:56Of course, they have different kind of philosophies when it comes to market dominance.

03:02But remember also President Biden's executive order in 2021, which talked in very stark terms

03:08about wanting a competitive marketplace that has the welfare of workers, farmers, small businesses,

03:16startups and consumers at its heart. And this very much echoes what the EU has been saying

03:22for a long time about that the welfare of consumers should be at the heart of this kind

03:27of regulation. So I think there has been a certain rapprochement between the US and

03:33the European positions under this Biden presidency. With Donald Trump, it's a slightly different

03:41situation. He actually, it's a bit complex, because on the one hand, Trump, obviously,

03:46he sees some big tech firms as part of this establishment, which is trying to muzzle free

03:51speech and so on. But on the other hand, he also sees some big tech as kind of part of his

03:58America First policy. So when Google was hit with this fine several years ago, he railed against

04:04the EU and called the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, the tax lady who hates the US.

04:12She's still in that post. So if he wins this election, we could be back to a very different

04:17transatlantic relationships on these regulation issues, as on trade and many other questions.

04:23Armin Djordjian, thank you very much.

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