The European Commission's demand for Apple to pay Ireland some 13 billion euros in back taxes has put the country in the strange position of refusing the windfall for fear of scaring away valuable investment.

Rather than welcoming the cash -- equivalent to around five percent of its gross domestic product -- the government has vowed to appeal the ruling, fearing an ever greatest cost to its economy and jobs.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he disagreed "profoundly" with Brussels while Apple chief Tim Cook warned the ruling threatened jobs and investment in Europe.

Cook said Apple, the world's most valuable company, was now in the "unusual position" of being asked to pay taxes to a government that says they are not due.

But opposition politicians urged Ireland, which has suffered years of austerity following a painful recession during the eurozone, to take the Silicon Valley giant's cash.

"EUR13bn Apple Tax could build 86,000 council houses. Shelter for Apple but none for the homeless," tweeted left-wing opposition politician Richard Boyd Barrett.

More than seven out of 10 people in a national radio poll also thought that Dublin should take the money, piling pressure on the government.

- 'Greater tax fairness' -

But Ireland has to weigh up the cash windfall against the potentially more long-term damage the ruling could do to its image as a low-tax place to do business.

Multinationals with major operations in Ireland now employ more than 170,000 people -- one in ten workers -- and the corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent is one of the lowest in Europe.

This corporate tax regime has been one of the cornerstones of its strategy for attracting inward investment and it has been spectacularly successful in doing so in recent years.

With 5,000 workers and another 1,000 promised, Apple is the single biggest employer in Cork, Ireland's second-biggest city, and one of several US tech giants with their European hubs in Ireland.

Although the case pertains solely to Apple, the tax practices of other Dublin-headquartered multinationals such as Google and Facebook have been heavily criticised internationally in recent years.

On revenues of 12.4 billion euros in 2011, Google paid just 22 million euros in taxes in Ireland.

Irish MEP Brian Hayes said he feared the ruling could damage Ireland's future ability to attract investment, although it will likely be welcomed in many European capitals, particularly in Paris.

The Irish corporate tax rate has been widely criticised by Ireland's EU partners, while France is a leading critic of a race-to-the-bottom among EU member states to cut tax and social conditions to attract foreign investment.

"I have no doubt this will cause significant reputational damage to the country and that is why the government must appeal this decision," Irish MEP Hayes told national broadcaster RTE.

Investment house AJ Bell said in a note that the decision "could deter fresh investment by leading corporations, to the potential detriment of employment and income tax contributions".

- 'Rich with talent' -

Apple was quick to point out that it invested in Ireland when the country was struggling economically.

Cook noted that the company had opened its first facility in Cork in southwest Ireland in 1980 at a time when the area was beset by "high unemployment and extremely low economic investments".

"Apple's leaders saw a community rich with talent and one they believed could accommodate growth if the company was fortunate enough to succeed," he said.

"As our business has grown over the years, we have become the largest taxpayer in Ireland, the largest taxpayer in the United States, and the largest taxpayer in the world," he wrote.

Meanwhile, one trader said that Britain, which voted to leave the EU in June, could end up being the beneficiary.

"If Ireland cannot offer sweetheart deals within the EU, the City of London can perhaps offer something more appealing outside the bloc," said Neil Wilson from currency trader ETX Capital.

Transatlantic tussles: EU cases against US firms
Brussels (AFP) Aug 30, 2016 - The EU's decision to make Silicon Valley giant Apple repay 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland is the latest in a string of competition cases against US firms.

Here are the main EU anti-trust inquiries as Washington and Brussels struggle for control of who sets the standards for global trade.

- APPLE -

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm and watchdog, has taken on the world's most valuable company in the form of Apple.

It launched its inquiry three years ago into whether "sweetheart" tax deals with Ireland amounted to illegal state aid for the company, which would have the effect of distorting competition across the 28-nation bloc.

In the wake of the LuxLeaks tax scandal it has launched further inquiries into the practice of countries offering extremely low corporation tax rates in an effort to attract multinationals.

- STARBUCKS -

In October 2015 the EU ordered US coffee maker Starbucks to repay the Netherlands 30 million euros in back taxes.

- MCDONALD's -

The EU launched a formal investigation in December 2015 into tax deals between US fast food giant McDonald's and Luxembourg, saying its preliminary assessment was that the arrangements breached state aid rules.

The case against McDonald's stemmed from a complaint by trade unions and the charity War on Want that accused McDonald's of avoiding around one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in taxes between 2009 and 2013, by shifting profits from one corporate division to another, and paying no local tax in Luxembourg.

- AMAZON -

Brussels has launched an investigation into Amazon's tax arrangements over its tax deals in Luxembourg.

In June 2015 it also opened a formal investigation into the Seattle-based online retail giant's e-book distribution.

- GOOGLE -

The EU has opened several concurrent investigations into the ubiquitous US internet giant Google.

In 2015 it formally charged Google with abusing the dominance of its search engine in Europe and a decision could come later in 2016.

In April 2016 it opened a probe into whether Google gives unfair prominence to its own Android apps such as maps or music streaming in deals with mobile manufacturers such as Samsung or Huawei.

Then in July, Brussels targeted Google's advertising business, saying it had restricted some websites from displaying ads from competitors. It also beefed up an earlier charge that it abused the dominance of its search engine for online shopping.

In all three cases, Google risks a fine of 10 percent of worldwide global sales for one year.

- MICROSOFT -

In a historic case in March 2013, the European Commission fined US giant Microsoft 561 million euros ($638 million) for failing to provide clients with a choice of internet browser for Windows 7, as it had promised to do.

It also fined the company 899 million euros in 2008, subsequently reduced to 860 million euros, for failing to comply with an order to share product information with rivals so that their software could work with Windows.

That came on top of a then-record fine of 497 million euros in 2004 for violating EU competition rules.

- INTEL -

INTEL, the world's biggest chipmaker, was in May 2009 fined a record 1.06 billion euros. The EU says it abused its stranglehold on the semiconductor market to crush its main rival, AMD.