The EU antitrust chief cheered the judgments. "Today is a huge win for European citizens and tax justice," she said on X of the Apple ruling, also praising the Google judgment as a big win for digital fairness. The case against Google dates back to 2017 when the European Commission fined the company for abusing its online shopping comparison market dominance. According to the Commission, Google gave preferential treatment to its own comparison-shopping service, disadvantaging smaller rivals. The case against Apple goes back to 2016 when the European Commission accused the company of receiving illegal tax benefits from Ireland. According to the Commission, Apple’s subsidiaries in Ireland paid a much lower tax rate than other companies — as low as 0.005% in 2014 — a practice that violated EU state aid rules. The cases were undoubtedly being closely observed across the EU as a significant moment for Big Tech’s European tax affairs — especially as the EU’s investigations between companies and member states have faced setbacks.