In the tech giant's ten-year legal battle over its tax problems in Ireland, the European Court of Justice rendered a decision against Apple on Tuesday.

The European Court of Justice's ruling was made only hours after Apple debuted an abundance of new products aimed at reviving its AirPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch lineups.

The European Union's executive branch, the European Commission, launched an inquiry into Apple's tax payments in Ireland, the location of the tech giant's EU headquarters, in 2014.

The Commission declared in 2016 that Apple had obtained "illegal" tax benefits from Ireland for a period of 20 years, and it ordered Dublin to recover up to 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in back taxes from the tech giant.

2019 saw Apple and Ireland file an appeal against the Commission's ruling, and the EU General Court took Apple's side in 2020. The second-highest court in the European Union overturned the 2016 ruling by the Commission, ruling that the executive branch had not established that the Irish government had granted Apple a tax benefit.

Apple has been targeted by the EU on several occasions before. The Commission most recently fined Apple 1.8 billion euros ($1.99 billion) in March for violating antitrust laws by abusing its dominant position in the market for music streaming app distribution. Apple makes iPhones.

Separately, businesses in Europe have been obliged to modify many of their procedures due to the EU's comprehensive Digital Markets Act. Under the DMA, the Commission has launched a number of probes targeting digital behemoths including Apple, Alphabet, and Meta.

(Sources: cnbc.com)