London: In a setback to US tech giant Apple just before the much-awaited launch of its iPhone 7, the European Commission on Tuesday announced that Ireland must demand 13 billion euros in taxes from the Cupertino, San Francisco-based company.

"We have concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to 13 billion euros to Apple. This is illegal under EU state aid rules, because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Ireland must now recover the illegal aid," an EU statement read.