Most countries would be excited to be on the receiving end of $14.4 billion in unexpected tax revenues. But Ireland, which has become a European hub for American tech companies thanks to its friendly tax policies, announced today that it will appeal a decision by a European Court that would claw back that huge sum in tax subsidies from the world’s wealthiest corporation, Apple.

The conflict pits the bureaucracy of the European Union against the sovereign governments of its member states. The European Commission has ruled that a number of nations were offering tax provisions to certain companies that were not accessible to rivals, creating an unfair and thus illegal system. An investigation found that Apple paid between 1 and 0.005…

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