Imagine a government that issued rules about how corporations should interact with their employees. Then twenty years later, it starts interpreting these rules in new and creative ways.
The government proceeds to announce that corporations have to adjust their actions retroactively, leading to retrospective penalties for thousands of workers.
Not only would this be ludicrously unfair. It would generate chaos. A precedent would be set about new legal interpretations being applied retrospectively, which would make it extremely difficult for either individuals or businesses to plan ahead.
This is analogous to what the European Commission is doing in relation to Apple, Amazon, Fiat and Starbucks.
