2023-06-27 21:04:54
Amazon is going to court. The e-commerce giant announced on Tuesday that it was attacking before the Council of State a measure intended to increase postage on books, protesting against “a severe blow to the budget of the French”.
Amazon France files an appeal for abuse of power against a ministerial decree of April 4, which it vigorously fought, he explains in a press release. This decree, 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.
“It will penalize readers, authors and reading in general”
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 the press release. .
“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 continued.
The European Commission very critical of France
Amazon invokes the opinion issued in February by the European Commission, 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”.
The Syndicate of the French bookstore, professional organization of the sector, denounced “an additional touch to the incivility” of its American competitor. In a press release, he castigated “an actor who refuses to pay his taxes in France, who destroys very many jobs, who weakens the territories by stifling the commercial fabric”, accusing Amazon of practicing “a devastating dumping for its competitors” with its delivery costs at 0.01 euro.
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