EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has been defending the decision to order technology firm Apple to pay 13 billion euros in back tax to the Irish government. <br /><br /> She told a European Parliament debate in Strasbourg that the goal is for all companies to pay tax where they generate profits and for all information on that to be made public: “Once agreed by Ireland, we will publish our decision for all to see and I hope that this can happen as fast as possible. The published information may also be relevant to tax authorities in other jurisdictions.”<br /><br /> She added: “If the US tax authorities consider that Apple should have paid a higher contribution for research and development to its US parent it could lead to a higher taxable amount in the US.” <br /><br /> Dublin has called the ruling an attack on its business-friendly low-tax regime and is to appeal against it, as is Apple.<br /><br /> Vestager denied that saying the action applied only to two tax rulings which gave Apple a selective advantage.<br /><br /> “The party is over”<br /><br /> Most MEPs in the debate supported the ruling. <br /><br /> Spanish EPP MEP Pablo Zalba Bidegain said: “We must say loud and clear that the party is over. Although multinationals create jobs they must pay taxes and we need a consolidated tax basis.” <br /><br /> Spanish MEP Pablo Zalba Bidegain tells #Apple to pay up:“the party is over!” Big companies can’t have tax breaks unavailable to EU citizens.— Teri Schultz (@terischultz) September 14, 2016<br /><br /> Italian MEP Five Star Movement Marco Valli complained the EU had been talking about this for years without doing anything: “We need to have the guts to co-operate at international level and name and shame those who are against this type of agreement.”<br /><br /> Irish opposition<br /><br /> Sean Kelly, an MEP with “Fine Gael, the party which leads the ruling minority coalition in Ireland, criticised Vestager’s action, saying: “If it is morally wrong to defend the reputation of your country, what is morally right?”<br /><br /> He also said he takes issue with competition law being used to undermine the rights of a sovereign state.<br /><br /> Another Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes accused the competition commissioner of making decisions based on politics and not on law. <br /><br /> He said: “The European business environment will not be helped by reinventing competition rules.”<br /><br /> He added: “The Commission now asks Ireland to collect this back tax while at the same time encouraging other member states to seek a portion of it – how it that logical?”<br /><br /> Commission state aid decisions should not be informed by political agendas https://t.co/f59ZyUSS9d #AppleTax— Brian Hayes MEP (@brianhayesMEP) September 14, 2016<br />
