苹果税收援助案的再思考

A Rethinking of the Case of Apple State Aid

2016年8月30日,欧盟委员会作出决定,认为爱尔兰通过税收裁定给予苹果国际销售公司和苹果欧洲运营国际公司的援助,与《欧盟运行条约》第107条的规定不符,并要求爱尔兰收回给予的援助。2020年7月15日,欧盟综合法院撤销了欧盟委员会上述决定。本文结合欧盟综合法院的判决,介绍了欧盟委员会对其成员国援助措施的审查权限和审查方法,以及其在苹果税收援助案的败诉原因,并从欧盟委员会审查成员国税收措施在欧盟内部的意义、欧盟国家援助规则的税收溢出效应、欧盟国家援助规则与国际投资协定的关系三个方面分析阐述了欧盟国家援助规则的影响。

On 30 August 2016,the European Commission(hereinafter"the Commission")decided that the tax rulings issued by the Irish tax authority in favor of Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe was inconsistent with the Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and ordered Ireland to recover the illegal aid.On 15 July 2020,the General Court of the EU annulled the Commission decision in its judgement.Combined with the judgement,the paper introduces the European Commission’s investigation authority and methods for its member states’aid measures,as well as the reasons for its failure in the Apple state aid case.Then the paper analyzes the effect of EU state aid regulations from three perspectives,including its impacts on the member states’tax measures within the EU,the tax spillover effect of EU state aid rules and the relationship between EU state aid rules and international investment agreements.