Edit: Please downvote me if you must but also post a comment about why I'm wrong. Thanks!
Of course you can, because EU law has precedence over Ireland's deal in this situation.
Apple (uniquely) having a near zero tax rate is considered illegal state aid to a company. Private companies are supposed to operate on the same terms within each European country.
At the same time, if bureaucrauts in Ireland were a bit smarter they could have just written in a special exemption for companies with certain specific requirements - which end up being Apple and a few big ones.
Apple was also pretty dumb to go to Ireland while Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria offer pretty low taxes out of the box. I guess they did that to access UK talent / lower language barrier even if the fiscal setup was riskier.
That's not how the law works. The courts look at the intent behind the law, the spirit of the law, as well as the text.
It might take longer and more argument but would eventually be struck down as well.
This really is demoralizing how they set rules for small guys but then give big incumbent companies everything they want.
The EU isn't applying any penalty here, this is owed taxes that apple were not billed by the Irish tax authorities.
Once you enter the EU, you forfeit part of your sovereignty. That's what Ireland failed to do here. There is no slippery slope. This is the very foundation of the union.
I do disagree with that typographic choice, but looking at their other articles I think they're consistent in that usage.