Rabat – The French Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, vowed on Wednesday to sue the US digital giants Apple and Google over “abusive business practices,” against French startups and software developers.
“We will take Google and Apple to the court for abusive business practices,” Le Maire wrote in a tweet from his official account.
Speaking on RTL radio on Wednesday, the French minister said he will take Google and Apple before the Paris Commercial Court for the conditions imposed on developers wishing to sell their apps to the two firms.
Le Maire added he finds “unacceptable” that both companies can gather data from the developers and “unilaterally modify contracts,” expecting the Paris commercial court to impose sanctions that would likely cost Google and Apple “several million of euros.”
“I consider that Google and Apple, as powerful as they are, shouldn’t treat our startups and our developers in the way they do today,” said Le Maire.
“My responsibility is to ensure economic law and order…There are rules. There is justice. It should be respected,” he added.
The French official has previously threatened to tax the American giants, based on their sales revenue in France, lambasting the tax optimization practices they use to pay taxes at lower rates in other EU countries.
He then reiterated that his government was working to establish international rules obliging digital behemoths to pay taxes wherever they operate.
