EU Decision Isn't Endgame for Apple, Ireland

BRUSSELS--For Apple Inc. AAPL -2.05 % and Ireland, the European Commission's decision ordering Dublin to collect billions of euros from Apple in unpaid taxes isn't the end of the story. They have a chance to turn the tables on the commission at the bloc's highest courts, where they are preparing to appeal. The European Commission, the bloc's antitrust regulator, has ordered Ireland to recoup about 13 billion, or roughly 14.6 billion, in taxes that the commission has estimated Apple avoided paying in Europe for more than a decade. There is a strong record of the European Union's top court ruling in favor of the European Commission's decisions. But lawyers say there is one area where that trend isn't as clear-cut: state-aid cases dealing with tax matters.