Margrethe Vestager 100% correct over public mood on Apple tax case | Nils Pratley

Court defeat for Brussels is reminder of glacial pace at which international tax reform proceeds

Margrethe Vestager may as well give up. If the EU's competition commissioner can't win her highest-profile case in the EU's second-highest court, then the EU's tax arrangements, as they apply to multinational tech companies, will remain a free-for-all.

In practice, she may plough on. The Luxembourg-based general court's order that Apple does not need to pay 13bn (11.7bn) in back taxes to the Irish government can be challenged. Lawyers may yet enjoy many more years of lucrative work.