Increasing book shipping costs: Amazon to appeal to the State Council

The e-commerce giant is determined to fight. Amazon France announced on Tuesday that it is going to appeal to the Council of State for “abuse of power” against an April 4 ministerial decree aimed at increasing the cost of shipping books.

The measure, which is due to come into effect in early October, sets a €3 shipping threshold for orders up to €35. The government’s goal is to enforce the December 30, 2021 “book economy” law, which was intended to encourage book buyers to visit bookstores to avoid these transportation costs.

According to Amazon, this measure “contradicts the rights and interests of consumers.” “It will punish readers, authors and reading in general” and “deal a serious blow to the budget of the French and limit their access to books,” said Amazon France CEO Frederic Duval, quoted in a press release.

Critics of the European Commission

“The online and bookstore offerings are actually complementary, with nearly one in two books sold by Amazon going to small towns and rural areas, areas that often don’t have bookstores,” he said.

To justify its appeal, Amazon cites an opinion released in February by the European Commission that is highly critical of France. Brussels felt that the French government had failed to demonstrate to him how increased postage would serve his goal of “maintaining a dense and diversified network” of bookstores and “the diversity and quality of the editorial offer”. In addition, the Commission lamented that France “failed to provide an assessment of less restrictive alternative measures”. Amazon says it advocates “establishing a special postage rate that already exists for sending books overseas.”