Brussels Edition: Decision day for Apple

Follow Us Get the newsletter Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. Apple will find out today whether it's won the first round of a challenge against the record 13 billion-euro tax bill it got from the European Commission in 2016. While the EU General Court's decision in Luxembourg may be straightforward, its effects could be wide-reaching: the ruling could either empower or halt antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's crackdown on allegedly unfair fiscal pacts between governments and multinational companies. The case may also sour EU-U.S. relations, with the U.S. Treasury chiding the bloc for behaving like a "supra-national tax authority" that could threaten global reform. — Stephanie Bodoni and Ian Wishart What's Happening Reserve of Compromise | German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she's planning to go to Brussels this weekend for difficult talks on assembling a European recovery plan with "a certain reserve of compromise." Speaking alongside the German chancellor in Berlin, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged leaders to make July "the month of decisions." Road Dispute | Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte moved to settle a highly charged dispute over Autostrade's toll-road concessions after marathon overnight talks. Locked in a long dispute over a 2018 bridge collapse in Genoa, the Italian premier has agreed to evaluate a new proposal by the company controlled by the billionaire Benetton family. Back Again | Brexit negotiators have spent the past couple of weeks in London and Brussels in an attempt to unlock the negotiations before a full round of talks next week. Today, they start back at the European Commission with little sign from either side that there's been significant progress. Ending Reliance | The EU's foreign policy chief Joesp Borrell gave an interview to Bloomberg in which he says the bloc will diversify its supply chains in the wake of the pandemic. "It is not normal, for example, that Europe does not produce even one milligram of paracetamol," he said. His remarks come as the EU and India prepare to hold a summit today. Tax Plans | Regardless of the Apple outcome, the commission will also announce today how it wants to promote fair taxation across the bloc. Plans include helping nations combat fraud and removing obstacles for both tax payers and companies, part of a push to ensure fairer and more effective taxation as the region looks to heal its economies. In Case You Missed It Still Closed | The EU recommended keeping its external borders shut to Americans and most other foreigners for at least two more weeks as fears grow of a second coronavirus wave. Member states urged no expansion of a list of 15 countries — Canada, Japan, South Korea and China among them — whose residents were given the green light to visit two weeks ago. Blocking Technology | Huawei will be banned from the U.K.'s next generation mobile networks in a sweeping crackdown on the Chinese company that will delay 5G roll-out and hit businesses with billions of pounds in extra costs. Merkel's Man? | After four months of near isolation, Merkel went on a unusual trip yesterday to visit Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder, fueling his status as the leading contender to become her heir. Bild, Germany's largest newspaper, called him the "crown prince." New Plan | French President Emmanuel Macron committed to spending an extra 100 billion euros toward resurrecting the country's battered economy. The funds, which will come on top of emergency aid and sector-specific plans for tourism, aeronautics and auto manufacturing, will target the country's "industrial, ecological, local, cultural and educational recovery," Macron said. Saying No | Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party approved a declaration that calls on the premier to reject the EU's coronavirus recovery plan and its seven-year budget until it withdraws the rule-of-law investigation into his government. It was described by one opposition lawmaker as "blackmail." Chart of the Day Working from home became the norm for many during virus restrictions, but people aren't sure they want it to continue in the post-pandemic world, according to YouGov's Economic Recovery Tracker covering 26 countries. In 12 of those nations, including Canada, Australia, the U.S. and most of Europe, more respondents disagreed than agreed with the statement "I will work from home a lot more." Today's Agenda All times CET. 11 a.m. Latest round of Apple and Ireland's fight to topple a record 13 billion-euro tax bill as the EU's lower court gives its ruling on the challenge Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold EU-India Summit via video-conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi European Affairs ministers hold video conference to prepare summit of their leaders Commission to unveil package of proposals for "fair and simple taxation" and offer guidance to EU governments on countering a possible second coronavirus wave North Macedonia holds snap election Like the Brussels Edition? Don't keep it to yourself. Colleagues and friends can sign up here. 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