Brussels summit preview, Apple tax case fallout and the State’s responsibility to pubs

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

French president Emmanuel Macron is the most ardent advocate of a €750 billion European  recovery fund. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP
French president Emmanuel Macron is the most ardent advocate of a €750 billion European recovery fund. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP

In a week for big legal rulings, Europe’s top court has declared invalid the so-called privacy shield arrangement through which tech companies and others transfer personal data from the EU to the US.

Europe correspondent Naomi O'Leary reports on the case, while Karlin Lillington assesses the consequences of the European Court of Justice's "blockbuster" finding for companies that make their money through personal data.

Lower broadband costs could be on the way after the European Commission told communications regulator Comreg to reduce rates for fixed-line telecommunications as a matter of urgency. Charlie Taylor reports.

After two days of meetings with the chief executives of AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said late on Thursday that the banks have committed to offering loans to small businesses under a €2 billion State guarantee scheme at costs that will be "significantly below" market rates. Joe Brennan reports.

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The saga of Johnny Ronan's plan for a 13-storey apartment block in Dublin's docklands continues, with Dublin City Council taking judicial review proceedings for a second time against An Bord Pleanála's approval of the tower. Ronald Quinlan reports.

Paris correspondent Lara Marlowe writes about French president Emmanuel Macron's efforts to lobby heads of state and government to agree to a European coronavirus recovery fund ahead of the big Brussels summit, which starts today.

In his Caveat column, Mark Paul says the State has an "extra moral responsibility" to financially assist businesses – including the pubs – that cannot yet reopen.

The State won its battle with the European Commission over the €13 billion Apple tax bill, but is it set to lose the war on corporate tax? In our Agenda feature, Joe Brennan explores the fallout from the ruling.

In the late 1920s, Emily Brenan went to work for the League of Nations in Geneva, where she was assigned to the double taxation unit under US tax lawyer Mitchell Carroll. Her grand-nephew, our columnist John Fitzgerald, explains how their research is still relevant to today's tax debate.

Planet Business details how British Airways isn't the first company to respond to financial difficulties by auctioning off its art collection, while in our weekly Wild Geese feature, Irishman Cormac Ross describes how his adoptive country of Colombia has undergone monumental change over the past 30 years – mostly for the better.

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Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics