Apple lost its legal battle over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) tax bill from Ireland, while Google lost its appeal against a €2.4 billion fine for market abuse, marking significant victories in the EU’s crackdown on major tech firms.

The EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg upheld a 2016 decision that Ireland violated state aid rules by giving Apple an unfair advantage. In a separate ruling, the court found that Google had abused its dominance in search engines by promoting its own product listings over others.

These decisions are major wins for Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, who targeted Apple and Google, among other tech giants, during her tenure starting in 2014. Vestager has long argued that selective tax breaks for large corporations like Apple and Amazon violate EU state aid laws.

Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, had previously criticized the EU’s demand for €13 billion in back taxes, calling it “total political crap.” The company now faces a one-time tax charge of about $10 billion. Meanwhile, Google expressed disappointment over the court’s ruling and noted that its efforts since 2017 have increased traffic to rival shopping services.

The EU’s actions against Google, particularly the shopping case, set a precedent for global scrutiny of tech giants, leading to fines totaling over €8 billion. The introduction of the Digital Markets Act aims to further regulate Big Tech and prevent them from favoring their own services over competitors.

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