France to take legal action against Google, Apple

PARIS - French Finance Minister Bruno le Maire announced Wednesday that the government is planning to sue internet giants Google and Apple for "abusive trade practices," including contractual terms imposed on technology start-ups and developers.

"I believe in an economy based on justice and I will take Google and Apple before the Paris Commercial Court for abusive trade practices," Le Maire told French radio RTL.

"I consider that Google and Apple, as powerful as they are, shouldn't treat our start-ups and our developers in the way they do today," he said.

He said it is "unacceptable" that the two US giants imposed financial conditions on the start-ups that sell apps to them, gathered data and have the ability to unilaterally modify contracts.

The tech giants could face "millions of euros" of fines, he noted, stressing that rules should be respected.

Le Maire also said he expects to increase taxes for Google, Amazon and Facebook by the end of the year, and hoped that similar policies would be applied in other European markets next year.