Apple tax: ‘€13bn fine not politically motivated’, says EU competition commissioner

EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager has hit back at claims from Apple boss Tim Cook that the record €13bn fine was politically driven.

Ms Vestager insisted the commission’s competition division was independent.

“I know what we are obliged to do and that is to take decisions that are independent, based on the treaty, the facts of the case, and can be checked by the European courts,” she said. “We have a court practice that says quite clearly that state aid can come in many forms. In this case [it’s] as a tax benefit. The only politics of that is that we’re here to make sure the treaty is upheld and this is in the treaty.”