The Council of State, in the hands of the online commerce giant Amazon, has referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The contested measure aims to increase the costs of shipping books in France. In a decision issued on Friday, it announced that it had decided to suspend the ruling on the conclusions presented by Amazon and refer the matter to the CJEU for an opinion.
The Council of State asks the European Court to resolve several points and to say, in particular, whether or not EU law provides for an exception to “a national measure regulating the exercise, in the territory of the Member State, of an activity of services with a view to protecting or promoting cultural diversity”.
Amazon France filed an appeal for abuse of power against a ministerial decree of April 4, 2023, which came into force in October of the same year, which sets the regulatory threshold for shipping costs at 3 euros for orders less than 35 euros.
Encourage buyers to visit bookstores
The government’s objective was to apply the law of December 30, 2021 on the “book economy”, which aimed to encourage book buyers to go to bookstores, to avoid these shipping costs.
“This decision confirms the serious concerns already raised by the European Commission about the legality of this ministerial decree and we look forward to the next decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union,” a spokesperson for Amazon France reacted to AFP.
The company, which generally does not publish figures by national market, has not given any indication on the evolution of its book sales in France. The company had argued at the time of filing its appeal that its “online offering and that of booksellers are actually complementary: almost one in every two books sold by Amazon is sent to small cities and the countryside, that is, to territories often lacking bookstores.
Amazon had also invoked the opinion issued in February 2023 by the European Commission, very critical of France, considering that its government has not demonstrated how the increase in shipping costs can allow “maintaining a dense and diversified network” of bookstores and “ the diversity and quality of the editorial offer.”
Source: BFM TV
