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> a devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states This is bad, bad PR. Maybe let the EU citizens be the judge of that? IMHO, it is a huge no-no for

by BenoitP 10y ago

> a devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states This is bad, bad PR. Maybe let the EU citizens be the judge of that? IMHO, it is a huge no-no for a company to make a political statement, especially in a troubled time like now (does Apple have any comments on Brexit, too?). I think this will deeply hurt the fanboyism.

legulere 10y ago
Nothing says devastating blow to the sovereignty more than a multinational company pressuring a country to give them illegal tax benefits.
ck425 10y ago
Or it might play well on rising nationalist anti-EU sentiments throughout Europe. The EU has a lot of battles to fight at the moment so Apple might be betting that they back off to an extent. That said I agree it will likely blow up in Apples faces. It strikes me as a line that would play well in the US (replace EU with US and re-read it) that they've not realised won't work over here.
- emptyfile 10y ago
  Honestly since brexit I've been constantly amazed how little Brits and Americans understand continental Europe's opinion on the EU. On the continent euro-sceptics operate on the extreme political fringe, they never got into any parliament in numbers and are considered toxic as coalition partners. The EU won't blow apart, the EU is a fact of life and an economic necessity, Brexit was so shocking because it is indeed unbelievable that anyone would try to quit the EU.
collyw 10y ago
I hope so, but knowing my Apple fanboy friends, they will be apologizing for Apple whatever they do.
zigzigzag 10y ago
Lots of big companies commented on Brexit (before the vote). I agree it didn't do them much good in the public eye, but Apple didn't choose to dive into a political debate, it is being dragged into one. I see a bunch of comments from non-Irish people here saying how badly this letter is going down. But it's aimed at the Irish. Ireland has benefited to the tune of tens of thousands of jobs (perhaps way more) from just a handful of big tech firms, in a country with a population of just 4.5 million. It is one of the things that contributes to the falling Irish unemployment rate. If the EU starts trying to systematically move big, rich employers out of Ireland (and that's the purpose of these moves, to eliminate Ireland's "unfair" appeal), then there's a risk Irish sentiment will start to turn against the EU, just like it did in the UK over the issue of immigration. If the EU systematically attacks their primary competitive advantage in order to satisfy the high-tax French and high-debt Spanish, then what becomes of Ireland?

by BenoitP 10y ago

legulere 10y ago

Nothing says devastating blow to the sovereignty more than a multinational company pressuring a country to give them illegal tax benefits.

ck425 10y ago

Or it might play well on rising nationalist anti-EU sentiments throughout Europe. The EU has a lot of battles to fight at the moment so Apple might be betting that they back off to an extent. That said I agree it will likely blow up in Apples faces. It strikes me as a line that would play well in the US (replace EU with US and re-read it) that they've not realised won't work over here.

emptyfile 10y ago
Honestly since brexit I've been constantly amazed how little Brits and Americans understand continental Europe's opinion on the EU. On the continent euro-sceptics operate on the extreme political fringe, they never got into any parliament in numbers and are considered toxic as coalition partners. The EU won't blow apart, the EU is a fact of life and an economic necessity, Brexit was so shocking because it is indeed unbelievable that anyone would try to quit the EU.

collyw 10y ago

I hope so, but knowing my Apple fanboy friends, they will be apologizing for Apple whatever they do.

zigzigzag 10y ago

Lots of big companies commented on Brexit (before the vote). I agree it didn't do them much good in the public eye, but Apple didn't choose to dive into a political debate, it is being dragged into one. I see a bunch of comments from non-Irish people here saying how badly this letter is going down. But it's aimed at the Irish. Ireland has benefited to the tune of tens of thousands of jobs (perhaps way more) from just a handful of big tech firms, in a country with a population of just 4.5 million. It is one of the things that contributes to the falling Irish unemployment rate. If the EU starts trying to systematically move big, rich employers out of Ireland (and that's the purpose of these moves, to eliminate Ireland's "unfair" appeal), then there's a risk Irish sentiment will start to turn against the EU, just like it did in the UK over the issue of immigration. If the EU systematically attacks their primary competitive advantage in order to satisfy the high-tax French and high-debt Spanish, then what becomes of Ireland?