Increase in shipping costs on books: Amazon will file an appeal with the Council of State

2023-06-27 21:26:42

The e-commerce giant has every intention of fighting. The Amazon France branch announced on Tuesday that it was going to file an appeal for “excess of power” before the Council of State against a ministerial decree of April 4 intended to increase shipping costs on books.

This measure, which should come into force at the beginning of October, sets the regulatory threshold for shipping costs at 3 euros for orders under 35 euros. The government’s objective is to apply the law of December 30, 2021 on the “book economy”, which was intended to encourage book buyers to go to bookstores, in order to avoid these shipping costs.

According to Amazon, the measure is “contrary to the rights and interests of consumers”. “It will penalize readers, authors and reading in general” and “deal a severe blow to the budget of the French and limit their access to books”, estimated the general manager of Amazon France, Frédéric Duval, quoted in a press release .

Critics of the European Commission

“The online offer and that of booksellers are in fact complementary: nearly one in two books sold by Amazon is sent to small towns and countryside, that is to say to territories often without bookstores”, he assured.

To justify its appeal, Amazon invokes the opinion issued in February by the European Commission, which is very critical of France. Brussels felt that the French government had failed to demonstrate to it how the increase in postage would serve its objective of “maintaining a dense and diversified network” of bookstores and “the diversity and quality of the editorial offer”. France, moreover, has not “provided an assessment of less restrictive alternative measures”, lamented the Commission. Amazon says it is in favor of “the establishment of a dedicated postal rate, which already exists for shipping books abroad”.