:00:07. > :00:17.Ireland weighs up whether to fight Brussels over its Apple tax ruling?
:00:18. > :00:27.Everyday items are getting the high tech treatment.
:00:28. > :00:42.We report from Europe's biggest consumer technology show.
:00:43. > :00:59.World leaders prepare for the G20 Summit in China where the tax row
:01:00. > :01:01.between the US and Europe is rapidly climbing the agenda. We will start
:01:02. > :01:02.there. We start in Ireland,
:01:03. > :01:05.where Cabinet ministers meet shortly to decide their next move in the tax
:01:06. > :01:08.row with Brussels over Apple. The European Commission has
:01:09. > :01:10.of course ruled this week that Ireland's preferential tax
:01:11. > :01:12.arrangements with the tech Let's just remind you
:01:13. > :01:15.of the numbers here. The Commission says in 2014 Apple
:01:16. > :01:18.paid the equivalent of this, It's demanding Apple pays 13 billino
:01:19. > :01:25.euros in back taxes. But Ireland's leaders are split over
:01:26. > :01:27.whether to take the windfall, and jeopardize relations with other
:01:28. > :01:30.multinationals also based there, The affair has resonated
:01:31. > :01:33.through the corporate world, because Apple is just one
:01:34. > :01:36.of the huge companies attracting the attention of this lady: EU
:01:37. > :01:38.Competition Commissioner Margrethe Starbucks, Fiat, BP and brewing
:01:39. > :01:59.giant, AB Inbev, are among those ordered to pay tens of millions
:02:00. > :02:01.of euros in back taxes after their deals
:02:02. > :02:03.were ruled illegal. But those rulings could be dwarfed
:02:04. > :02:06.by an EU investigation into Amazon's tax deal with Luxembourg,
:02:07. > :02:08.dating back to 2003. It claims "most of Amazon's European
:02:09. > :02:11.profits" came through a subsidiary there whose structure meant
:02:12. > :02:13.it avoided paying tax. And there's a similar probe
:02:14. > :02:15.into McDonald's and its channelling The Commission claims the fast-food
:02:16. > :02:25.chain hasn't paid corporate taxes on franchisee royalties in Europe
:02:26. > :02:28.and Russia since 2009. Meanwhile, Luxembourg denies giving
:02:29. > :02:29.either firm special treatment. Amazon and McDonald's say
:02:30. > :02:31.they believe they've been paying their European
:02:32. > :02:33.taxes appropriately. And Apple boss Tim Cook
:02:34. > :02:36.expressed his anger in an interview with Irish radio on Thursday,
:02:37. > :02:57.calling the move "political." It is maddening. It is maddening, it
:02:58. > :03:04.is disappointing, and it is clear that this comes from a political
:03:05. > :03:10.place. It has no basis in fact or law. Unfortunately it is one of
:03:11. > :03:15.those things we have to work through. When you are accused of
:03:16. > :03:19.doing something that is so foreign to your values it brings out an
:03:20. > :03:20.outrage in you. James Webber is a Partner at law
:03:21. > :03:34.firm Shearman and Sterling. Good morning. Good morning. Tim Cook
:03:35. > :03:38.is saying there is no legal basis for this ruling. Is he right? I
:03:39. > :03:45.think there is a good chance he is right. The traditional test for the
:03:46. > :03:50.relevant state aid is to say that the company's position is better
:03:51. > :03:54.than a company in a similar situation, which would be another
:03:55. > :03:57.multinational in Ireland. What the commission seems to have done here
:03:58. > :04:03.is say Apple is not paying enough tax and doesn't touch on that
:04:04. > :04:07.economic reality. There is a significant problem with it. It
:04:08. > :04:11.might be a different test, but surely the whole point of an
:04:12. > :04:17.independent executive arm is that it can use the law in novel ways to try
:04:18. > :04:20.and protect the spirit of the law even if it does not necessarily mean
:04:21. > :04:26.that things are following the letter or the normal course as you might
:04:27. > :04:30.imagine in competition. Umm, that is clearly their position, they are
:04:31. > :04:33.applying the rules and there is nothing extraordinary about it. It
:04:34. > :04:39.has been there since the 50s, et cetera... I think that is a slight
:04:40. > :04:46.exaggeration. It is quite clearly the case That states rules like that
:04:47. > :04:49.would not apply in cases like this. The commission is trying something
:04:50. > :04:54.new. When you try something new it is hard for companies to know what
:04:55. > :05:03.the rules are. To know what the rules of the game now. That reduces
:05:04. > :05:07.uncertainty and can be quite unfair. These rules were not in
:05:08. > :05:13.contemplation when they made the arrangements, is what Apple is
:05:14. > :05:16.saying. They made the deal with Ireland as a sovereign government
:05:17. > :05:19.and there was no expectation a commission could come along and
:05:20. > :05:24.second-guess the Irish determination. And in doing so it is
:05:25. > :05:29.unfair and rules are being applied retroactively. That is clearly the
:05:30. > :05:34.position from Apple. But briefly, we have the U.S. Treasury before any of
:05:35. > :05:37.this came out saying that things like this from the European
:05:38. > :05:41.Commission, they actually do more harm than good, effectively, and
:05:42. > :05:46.they said it undermined some of the work being done around the world to
:05:47. > :05:51.undermine tax loopholes. Do you agree? I think, again, there is a
:05:52. > :05:54.good case for that. A lot of work is being done around the world to
:05:55. > :06:00.improve the tax case for multinationals. Changing the rules
:06:01. > :06:07.or even the way in which they are applied retroactively undermines the
:06:08. > :06:11.cooperation they depend upon. OK. We will have to leave it there, James.
:06:12. > :06:12.Thank you very much real-time. Thank you.
:06:13. > :06:14.Let's stay with that issue of tax avoidance by multinational
:06:15. > :06:17.companies, because the row is likely to continue at the G20 Summit
:06:18. > :06:21.Rico Hizon is looking at this for us.
:06:22. > :06:23.Rico, President Obama is going to wade into the debate?
:06:24. > :06:33.Good morning. Good morning. President Obama will be joining?
:06:34. > :06:39.Indeed. Washington says they will raise this issue during the G20
:06:40. > :06:43.leaders summit because they saved the approach needs to be consistent
:06:44. > :06:48.and globally co-ordinated, Victoria, rather than unilateral action by
:06:49. > :06:52.individual countries. The Americans, though, do not expect a major
:06:53. > :06:56.breakthrough because this issue is highly technical. Other topics
:06:57. > :07:00.likely to be on the agenda of leaders, Victoria, are the slowdown
:07:01. > :07:07.in the Chinese economy, territorial disputes, those in the south China
:07:08. > :07:12.see, and it will likely push for far reaching measures for world economic
:07:13. > :07:20.stimulus. The global leaders and it has a full plate in a Chinese city
:07:21. > :07:25.of Hangjou. This will be Obama's last trip to Asia as president. And
:07:26. > :07:30.you have Xi Jinping and Theresa May along those attending. This group
:07:31. > :07:34.accounts for 85% of global GDP and two thirds of the population. Many
:07:35. > :07:41.issues both economic and political will be discussed in this city. I
:07:42. > :07:42.know you will be a cross all of them. Rico Hizon, thank you very
:07:43. > :07:46.much. To Germany now where Europe's
:07:47. > :07:48.biggest consumer technology show IFA gets under way in
:07:49. > :07:50.Berlin later today. The big tech firms are pushing
:07:51. > :07:53.their vision of the Smart Home, So, if you ever wanted to check
:07:54. > :07:56.the contents of your fridge Our technology correspondent,
:07:57. > :08:04.Rory Cellan-Jones, is there In Berlin this week, eight limbs of
:08:05. > :08:11.the products that tech firms will soon be in your home. -- A glimpse.
:08:12. > :08:18.The word smart is everywhere. This Chinese firm has even made it smart
:08:19. > :08:23.to take a nap. This smart mattress will tell me how I slept, and it
:08:24. > :08:29.says brilliant. Over at the giant Samsung stand, an old favourite, the
:08:30. > :08:33.Internet connected fridge. What makes this different is that this
:08:34. > :08:37.and other appliances are all controlled from a smartphone. There
:08:38. > :08:44.are three cameras inside the fridge. Whenever the door closes it takes a
:08:45. > :08:48.picture. You can add the expiry date so I know I have to eat a cake in
:08:49. > :08:54.the next day. It is not just weird geeks thinking I need to eat a cake
:08:55. > :08:57.in a day? These are real cases for real consumers and this will change
:08:58. > :09:01.the behaviour of how we act with appliances. TVs continue to get
:09:02. > :09:07.bigger with ever sharper pictures. Many this year based curved screens.
:09:08. > :09:11.And Sony is looking further into the future with this projection system
:09:12. > :09:16.turning any surface into a magical interactive space. Characters from
:09:17. > :09:22.this book have left out of it magically onto the table. It is
:09:23. > :09:28.Europe's biggest technology show. But one of the big names we have
:09:29. > :09:37.seen so far, Samsung, Sony, where are the big European names taking a
:09:38. > :09:44.bite out of this market? Mmm. To be fair, there are plenty of German
:09:45. > :09:49.groups here, like this security camera that can distinguish between
:09:50. > :09:55.homeowner and burglar. But overall it Europe is lagging behind. Ten
:09:56. > :10:01.years ago, Nokia and other big names were dominating. Now they have all
:10:02. > :10:05.gone and it is moving towards Samsung, Sony, Japan, Chinese
:10:06. > :10:12.manufacturers, and obviously the big US web giants. They are here in
:10:13. > :10:16.stealth. Be EU remains a big market for technology firms. And even
:10:17. > :10:21.gadgets that are to play with your cat while you are way. Plenty of new
:10:22. > :10:29.products are vying to make your home smarter. BBC News, Berlin.
:10:30. > :10:34.The market. Trade is moving cautiously ahead of the US jobs
:10:35. > :10:41.report that could open the door for an interest rate hike later in the
:10:42. > :10:42.year. This is Asia, Europe opens in a couple couple of hours. See you